apprentice
Americannoun
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apprentices
plural
-
a person who works for another in order to learn a trade.
an apprentice to a plumber.
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History/Historical. a person legally bound through indenture to a master craftsman in order to learn a trade.
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a learner; novice; tyro.
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U.S. Navy. an enlisted person receiving specialized training.
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a jockey with less than one year's experience who has won fewer than 40 races.
verb (used with object)
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apprentices,
present (3rd person singular)
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apprenticed,
past participle, past
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apprenticing
present participle
verb (used without object)
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apprentices,
present (3rd person singular)
-
apprenticed,
past participle, past
-
apprenticing
present participle
noun
-
someone who works for a skilled or qualified person in order to learn a trade or profession, esp for a recognized period
-
any beginner or novice
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
apprenticesimple
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apprenticessimple
-
have apprenticedperfect
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has apprenticedperfect
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am apprenticingprogressive
-
are apprenticingprogressive
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is apprenticingprogressive
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have been apprenticingperfect progressive
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has been apprenticingperfect progressive
Past
-
apprenticedsimple
-
had apprenticedperfect
-
was apprenticingprogressive
-
were apprenticingprogressive
-
had been apprenticingperfect progressive
Future
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
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.
Vocabulary lists containing apprentice
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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.
See Examples For:
The 19-year-old college student compares herself to an apprentice learning from a master artisan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 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
"Does it really sound like the president of the United States to run a televised program for who would be his next apprentice?"
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
He said his dad was "very career-orientated", who started out as an apprentice in Cwmbran before rising through the ranks to become a mining engineer, working across Scotland, the North East, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
First there was Jop, our current apprentice, whose daily trip from his parents’ home in the suburbs had twice nearly ended in seizure for the factory transport.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Reform said its policy, which also includes a £2,000 retention bonus for apprentices, could cost between £1.48bn and almost £2bn over five years.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
At Yorkshire-based manufacturing company Fives, most apprentices are at lower levels and study at nearby Keighley College, but there is one degree apprentice.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
But what is an apprenticeship, how much do apprentices get paid and what careers can they lead to?
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
They are responsible for ensuring apprentices work with experienced staff and receive time away from their job to complete their studying.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
“When will the apprentices be tested?” she asked.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
"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
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
He studied at what is now known as the Institute of Culinary Education in New York, interned at Alps Salami in Queens and apprenticed with butchers in Tuscany.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 24, 2025
He apprenticed himself to the great artists, ancient and modern.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2025
“To make sure no gentleman decides to grab you up as his servant, I have apprenticed you to John Laydon. You will become a carpenter in your own right.”
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
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
His uncles started a group called Banda La Movida, and Vallejo is still teaching himself acoustic guitar when he’s not apprenticing as a hat maker at Márquez Clásico, crafting tejanas and sombreros de charro.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025
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
He became a woodworker, apprenticing at a nearby shop owned by a broad-minded Unitarian.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
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.
