apprentice

[uh-pren-tis]

See more synonyms for apprentice on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person who works for another in order to learn a trade: an apprentice to a plumber.
History/Historical. a person legally bound through indenture to a master craftsman in order to learn a trade.
a learner; novice; tyro.

U.S. Navy. an enlisted person receiving specialized training.
a jockey with less than one year's experience who has won fewer than 40 races.

verb (used with object), ap·pren·ticed, ap·pren·tic·ing.

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

verb (used without object), ap·pren·ticed, ap·pren·tic·ing.

to serve as an apprentice: He apprenticed for 14 years under a master silversmith.

Origin of apprentice

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

Related formsap·pren·tice·ship, nounun·ap·pren·ticed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for apprenticed

constrained, obligated, restrained, enslaved, illiterate, uninformed, naive, obtuse, innocent, uneducated, oblivious, enroll, get, read, study, receive, master, gain, determine, grasp

Examples from the Web for apprenticed

Contemporary Examples of apprenticed

Likewise the English immigrant John is 11 when he goes off to be apprenticed.
She Who Came After Tolkien, Before Rowling
John Garth
August 31, 2013
Moriyama, among the photographers most widely exhibited in the U.S., had apprenticed to both Hosoe and Tomatsu.
Photography that Provokes
Philip Gefter
October 15, 2009
Jessica, a pro-domme in her late twenties, apprenticed at a dungeon before striking out on her own.
Kinkonomics
Tracy Quan
February 3, 2009

Historical Examples of apprenticed

Born at Champagne, in Lorraine, of poor parents, he was first apprenticed to a pastrycook.
Self-Help
Samuel Smiles
"You couldn't be wicked if you was apprenticed to the Old Harry for ten years, Zoeth," he said.
Mary-'Gusta
Joseph C. Lincoln
As soon as I had passed my fourteenth birthday I was apprenticed to Madama.
Lippincott's Magazine, September, 1885
Various
On the completion of his studies, John Burton was apprenticed to a writer in Aberdeen.
The Book-Hunter
John Hill Burton
In his sixteenth year he apprenticed himself to a stone-mason.
The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume V.
Various

British Dictionary definitions for apprenticed

apprentice

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

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

Derived Formsapprenticeship, noun

Word Origin for apprentice

C14: from Old French aprentis, from Old French aprendre to learn, from Latin apprehendere to apprehend

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for apprenticed

apprentice

c.1300, from Old French aprentiz "someone learning" (13c., Modern French apprenti, taking the older form as a plural), also as an adjective, "unskilled, inexperienced," from aprendre (Modern French apprendre) "to learn; to teach," contracted from Latin apprehendere (see apprehend). Shortened form prentice long was more usual in English.

apprentice

1630s, from apprentice (n.). Related: Apprenticed; apprenticing.