applicant
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of applicant
First recorded in 1475–85, applicant is from the Latin word applicant- (stem of applicāns applying, present participle of applicāre ). See apply, -ant
Explanation
An applicant is someone who signs up or applies for something. A job applicant for example, often fills out a form and then interviews for the position she hopes to get. When you submit your college application to a school you'd like to attend, you are an applicant to that school. Other kinds of applicants are job candidates and scholarship hopefuls. To apply is to put in for or request entry to something, and the root of both apply and applicant is the Old French aploiier, "apply, use, or attach," from the Latin applicare, "attach to, join, or connect."
Vocabulary lists containing applicant
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The brochure was "provided by Applicant directly to its customers and potential customers," he wrote.
From Salon • Jul. 17, 2023
Pressed by a judge about that father’s identity, Eric Rosen, Lelling’s lead prosecutor in the investigation, said: “There haven’t been charges publicly revealed about the family of Yale Applicant 1.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2019
Applicant tracking systems search for key words, including a college diploma, in a job seeker’s materials and automatically discard those missing the necessary requirements, all without the intervention of a person.
From Washington Post • Oct. 27, 2017
Chaffetz applied to join the Secret Service through a field office and was rejected and labeled "Better Qualified Applicant" for unknown reasons.
From US News • Oct. 1, 2015
Applicant 1: “It should be based on accounts, then, where I can grow, I can grow in my career.”
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
