trainee
Meaning
a person who is being taught how to do a particular job or skill
Structure
Usage
the new trainee will be shadowing a senior analyst for the first month.
the company offers a comprehensive program for every management trainee.
she started as a graduate trainee and worked her way up to department head.
Etymology
the word 'trainee' is a modern formation built upon the older verb 'train', which entered english from old french 'trainer', meaning to drag or draw. this french term derives from latin 'trahere' (to pull, draw), a concept that metaphorically extended to mean 'to draw someone into learning' or 'to instruct'. the suffix '-ee', borrowed from the anglo-french past participle ending, became productive in english legal and general vocabulary to indicate the recipient of an action. thus, a 'trainee' is literally 'one who is trained' or 'the person receiving instruction', logically connecting the act of being drawn into a skill with the status of a learner.
Analysis
train (from old french 'trainer', meaning to drag, draw, or instruct, of latin origin; functions as the verb root) + ee (from anglo-french -é, a suffix forming past participles, later used in english to form nouns denoting a person affected by the verb's action; functions as a noun-forming suffix)