Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “underemployment” come from?

Underemployment comes from English employ plus the suffix -ment, derived from Middle French employer, Latin implicare meaning "to involve or engage," and Latin in- meaning "in."

underemployment (English): The condition of being underemployed

Definitions

  1. The condition of being underemployed

Ancestry of “underemployment”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishemploymentThe work or occupation for which one is used, and...
2EnglishemployThe state of being an employee; employment; The...
3Frenchemploijob; employment; use; need
4Frenchemployerto employ
5Middle Frenchemployerto employ; to use; to make use of
6Old FrenchemploierAlternative form of emploiier
7Latinimplicō—
8Latinīn-—
9Latinîn—
10Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
11Proto-Italicenin
12Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én →