Hire Meaning
/ˈhaɪ(.)ə/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA person who has been hired, especially in a cohort.
nounThe state of being hired, or having a job; employment.
Sentence Examples
If you are honest, I will hire you.
You can hire a boat by the hour.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The company decided to ____ three new workers for the busy season.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The company needs to ____ three more software engineers to finish the project on schedule.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English hire, hyre, here, hure, from Old English hȳr (“employment for wages; pay for service; interest on money lent”), from Proto-West Germanic *hūʀiju (“payment”), from the verb *hūʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *hūzijaną, from Proto-Indo-European *kewHs- or *kweHs-. Compare Hittite 𒆪𒊭𒀭 (kuššan-, “fee, pay, wages, price”). Cognate with West Frisian hier (“hire”), Dutch huur (“lease, rental”), German Low German Hüür (“lease, rental”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Employment statistics, the other key indicator of Diversity & Inclusion performance, shows that almost 30% of new Southeastern hires are women."
— 2024 February 21, Nick Brodrick, “Inclusion and development for all”, in RAIL, number 1003, page 62:
"I vvill him reaue of armes, the victors hire, / And of that ſhield, more vvorthy of good knight; / For vvhy ſhould a dead dog be deckt in armour bright?"
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
"I have five hundred crovvns, / The thrifty hire I ſav'd under your father […]"
— c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], lines 682–683:
"The labourer is worthy of his hire."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 10:7:
"I haue ſeene a pardon giuen to a man vpon the gallovves, but vvho ſo emboldeneth himſelfe thereuypon, perhaps the rope may be his hire: it is not good to put it vpon the Pſalme of Miſerere, and the neck-verſe, for ſometime he prooues no clarke."
— 1619, Samuell Hieron, “The Worth of the Water of Life. Dauids Longing, and Dauids Loue. The Good Fight. [II. Tim[othy] 4. 7.]”, in The Sermons of Master Samuell Hieron, […], London: […] Iohn Beale [and John Legatt printer to the Uniuersitie of Cambridge for Thomas Man, Ioyce Macham, Cantrell Legge, and Simon Waterson], published 1620, →OCLC, pages 222–223:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The company decided to ____ three new workers for the busy season.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The company needs to ____ three more software engineers to finish the project on schedule.