apprentice

American  

[uh-pren-tis] / əˈprɛn tɪs /

noun

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.

---

verb (used with object)

apprenticed, apprenticing

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

verb (used without object)

apprenticed, apprenticing

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

---

verb

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

Other Word Forms

• apprenticeship
  noun
• unapprenticed
  adjective

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.

Example Sentences

When I signed as an apprentice in 1969, I brought my mum and dad over and right away he came across and spoke to them.

From BBC • May 19, 2026

Speaking of “Gangs of New York,” Mr. Scorsese had to convince Daniel Day-Lewis to return to acting—he was, at the time, a cobbler’s apprentice in Florence.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

So he swapped a Delhi suburb for a village in Germany's Black Forest region, where he's a baker's apprentice.

From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026

He finished high school and became a poorly paid, overworked apprentice electrician.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2026

Like Joyce, Swift had learned the butchering process from start to finish, entering the trade as his brother’s apprentice in 1855 at the age of fourteen in a little town on Cape Cod.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield

Related Words

• pupil