hired
Meaning
having been employed for wages or a salary.
to have employed someone for wages or a salary; to have obtained the temporary use of something for an agreed payment.
Structure
Usage
the company hired three new engineers last month.
she was recently hired as the director of marketing.
we hired a car for the duration of our holiday.
Etymology
the word 'hired' is the past tense and adjectival form of the verb 'hire'. its core, 'hire', originates from old english hyrian, which carried the dual meanings of employing for wages and paying for temporary use. this old english term is of west germanic origin, related to dutch huren and german heuern. the addition of the '-d' suffix follows the standard pattern for forming the past tense and past participle of regular (weak) verbs in english, a grammatical convention inherited from proto-germanic. thus, 'hired' literally means "having undergone the action of hiring," seamlessly connecting the ancient concept of payment for service or use to its modern contractual and employment contexts.
Analysis
- hire: from old english hyrian, meaning "to employ for wages, to rent." of germanic origin. - d: a suffix representing the regular past tense and past participle inflection for weak verbs in english.