apprentice

American  

[uh-pren-tis] / əˈprɛn tɪs /

noun

• apprentices
  plural

1. 

   a person who works for another in order to learn a trade.

   an apprentice to a plumber.

2. History/Historical. a person legally bound through indenture to a master craftsman in order to learn a trade.

3. a learner; novice; tyro.

4. U.S. Navy. an enlisted person receiving specialized training.

5. a jockey with less than one year's experience who has won fewer than 40 races.

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verb (used with object)

• apprentices,
  present (3rd person singular)
• apprenticed,
  past participle,  past
• apprenticing
  present participle

1. to bind to or place with an employer, master craftsman, or the like, for instruction in a trade.

verb (used without object)

• apprentices,
  present (3rd person singular)
• apprenticed,
  past participle,  past
• apprenticing
  present participle

1. to serve as an apprentice.

   He apprenticed for 14 years under a master silversmith.

apprentice British  

/ əˈprɛntɪs /

noun

1. someone who works for a skilled or qualified person in order to learn a trade or profession, esp for a recognized period

2. any beginner or novice

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verb

1. (tr) to take, place, or bind as an apprentice

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• apprenticeship
  noun
• unapprenticed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• apprentices
  plural

Participles

• apprenticing
  present
• apprenticed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• apprentice
  simple
• apprentices
  simple
• have apprenticed
  perfect
• has apprenticed
  perfect
• am apprenticing
  progressive
• are apprenticing
  progressive
• is apprenticing
  progressive
• have been apprenticing
  perfect progressive
• has been apprenticing
  perfect progressive

Past

• apprenticed
  simple
• had apprenticed
  perfect
• was apprenticing
  progressive
• were apprenticing
  progressive
• had been apprenticing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will apprentice
  simple
• will have apprenticed
  perfect
• will be apprenticing
  progressive
• will have been apprenticing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of apprentice

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English ap(p)rentis, from Anglo-French, Old French ap(p)rentiz, from unattested Vulgar Latin apprenditīcius, equivalent to unattested apprendit(us) (for Latin apprehēnsus; see apprehensible) + Latin -īcius suffix forming adjectives from past participles, here nominalized

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Explanation

An apprentice is someone who learns a trade. An apprentice farmer is paid very little but has the chance to learn farming by watching and doing. In the old days, becoming an apprentice was the only way to get into many lines of work. Nowadays we think of it more in terms of trades — butchers, bakers, bricklayers, etc. If you do the same thing in an office setting, it's usually called an internship, but the idea is the same — learning by watching an expert. The word can be used as either a noun or verb: You are an apprentice, but you also can apprentice to the barber down the street.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

apprentice apprentices apprenticed apprenticing

Now he assembles components for data centers, making around $30 an hour as an apprentice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

The apprentice butcher joined the Territorial Army when he was 17, before the war broke out, because he wanted "something to do".

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

The MP said the apprenticeship wage credit would result in businesses saving an average of £4,000-a-year per apprentice.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

Christine is only slightly more experienced, no longer an atelier apprentice, but is just beginning to prove herself, constructing her first garment entirely on her own.

From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026

A portrait of fourteen-year-old Sara Marrel, Maria’s older stepsister, by the apprentice Johann Graff, 1658.

From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman

At the event at the Ironworkers Training Center in La Palma organized by labor leaders to oppose the wealth tax, apprentices attended workshops about rigging and collective bargaining rights.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

As Murano island’s glass factories face exorbitant energy costs, a shrinking pool of skilled apprentices and competition from counterfeits, the Seguso brand remains one of the last practitioners of the art form.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

His spokespeople said he will speak to Welsh workers and apprentices about "reindustrialisation, jobs and the cost of living".

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

He said that apprentices are also beneficial to employers, since their salaries are low and they tend to be better learners.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

Maria arranged flowers and fetched painting supplies for Marrel and his apprentices.

From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman

"After his studies in London, he was apprenticed to other stonemasons to help in the construction of the Houses of Parliament," Simmons said.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

He apprenticed in Paris with Constantin Brancusi—who had briefly assisted Auguste Rodin—absorbing a sculptural vocabulary grounded in direct carving and essential form.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

Samuel Slater, born in 1768 into a farming family in Derbyshire, England, was apprenticed at age 14 to the owner of a cotton mill that was using the novel Arkwright water frame.

From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026

After Brooks apprenticed as a teen entertaining in the Catskills and served in World War II, Sid Caesar hired the young comedian on his own dime to write for “Your Show of Shows.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026

Gisa was there today, aiding the seamstress she is apprenticed to.

From "Red Queen" by Victoria Aveyard

He likely grew up apprenticing in his father’s studio, and in the 1510s he and his brother set off for Basel to work independently.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026

Some say she has been apprenticing as a cobbler in the Italian countryside; others, that she’s formed an ice cave—and won the trust of indigenous penguin tribes—in Antarctica.

From Slate ● May 25, 2024

By the next year, she was studying at Tokyo University of the Arts and apprenticing at Handa Kyuseido, a relative newcomer in the multigenerational-family conservator field.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 22, 2023

For the sound bath at First Congregational Church, which cost between $55 and $66 depending on whether you brought your own mat and pillow, Bawa brought together six sound healers — some experienced, some apprenticing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2023

At my parents for dying and my brother for apprenticing himself to a Martial.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir

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