employee
Americannoun
-
employees
plural
noun
Usage
What does employee mean? An employee is someone who gets paid to work for a person or company. Workers don’t need to work full time to be considered employees—they simply need to be paid to work by an employer (the person or business that pays them). The term employee is sometimes used to distinguish contract workers from full employees (who often earn additional benefits), but in this example, both types of workers are considered employees in the general sense. Example: My company has more than 500 employees.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of employee
First recorded in 1825–35; from French employé “employed,” past participle of employer to employ; see -ee
Explanation
An employee is someone who's hired to do a particular job for pay. If you like to shop in a certain store, you might also enjoy being an employee there. You can see the verb employ, meaning "put to use," in employee. You can employ a pen in writing a letter, just as a grocery store might employ workers to collect the shopping carts from the parking lot. A person who is put to work is an employee. Employee implies that the worker reports to a boss, and it's most commonly used for non-executives who work for a salary.
Vocabulary lists containing employee
"Dogs at Work"
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Vocabulary for the Naturalization Interview
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Units 6–7
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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:
"This is an employment matter for the Law Society and David is our employee."
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
In 1981, the IRS issued regulations allowing any employee to contribute to such plans out of their wages.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Dan, Bill’s current part-time employee, told me that when the Trump Superstore closure was first announced, about two weeks earlier, there had been massive crowds.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
Two years ago, the overall conversion rate from intern to employee was 50.6%, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The Zamborskas were expected to treat Vivian more like a family member than like an employee.
From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg
The workforce at Ruesselsheim has shrunk from a 1970s peak of around 42,000 employees to approximately 6,800 by the end of 2025.
From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026
It is GM, they say, that is the bigger overall contributor to the U.S. workforce, when factoring in salaried employees as well as hourly workers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Gallo earlier this year shared plans to lay off more than 90 employees by the end of January 2027 and close a major Napa Valley wine-making facility.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
The regulations would let employees and employers contribute up to $2,500 in pretax money between them.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
Most employees did not stay long at the Mountain View Inn.
From "Ralph S. Mouse" by Beverly Cleary
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.
