. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
you have here. The definition of the word
will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
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- . Compare Hittite 𒆪𒊭𒀭 ( kuššan- , “ fee, pay, wages, price ” ) .
Cognate with West Frisian hier ( “ hire ” ) , Dutch huur ( “ lease, rental ” ) , German Low German Hüür ( “ lease, rental ” ) .
Noun
hire (countable and uncountable , plural hires )
( countable ) A person who has been hired , especially in a cohort .
We pair up each of our new hires with one of our original hires .
2024 February 21, Nick Brodrick, “Inclusion and development for all”, in RAIL , number 1003 , page 62 :Employment statistics, the other key indicator of Diversity & Inclusion performance, shows that almost 30% of new Southeastern hires are women.
( uncountable ) The state of being hired, or having a job ; employment .
Synonym: employ
When my grandfather retired, he had over twenty mechanics in his hire .
( uncountable ) Payment for the temporary use of something.
The sign offered pedalos on hire .
( uncountable , obsolete ) Reward .
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 Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , , lines 682–683 :I have five hundred crovvns, / The thrifty hire I ſav'd under your father [ …]
1619 , Samuell Hieron, “The Worth of the Water of Life. Dauids Longing, and Dauids Loue. The Good Fight. [II. Tim 4. 7.]”, in The Sermons of Master Samuell Hieron, , London: Iohn Beale , published 1620 , →OCLC , pages 222–223 :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.
Derived terms
Translations
the state of being hired, or having a job; employment
a person who has been hired
Etymology 2
From Middle English hiren , hyren , from Old English hȳrian ( “ to hire ” ) , from the noun (see above). Compare West Frisian hiere ( “ to rent, lease ” ) , Dutch huren ( “ to rent, lease ” ) , Low German hüren ( “ to rent ” ) , Danish hyre ( “ to hire ” ) .
Eclipsed Middle English souden ( “ to hire, employ, enlist ” ) , borrowed from Old French souder , soudre , souldre ( “ to take into employ, pay ” ) ; see English sold ( “ salary, military pay ” ) .
Verb
hire (third-person singular simple present hires , present participle hiring , simple past and past participle hired )
( transitive , chiefly UK ) To obtain the services of in return for fixed payment .
Synonym: rent
We hired a car for two weeks because ours had broken down.
1918 , W B Maxwell , chapter XVI, in The Mirror and the Lamp , Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company , →OCLC :“ [ …] She takes the whole thing with desperate seriousness. But the others are all easy and jovial—thinking about the good fare that is soon to be eaten, about the hired fly, about anything.”
( transitive , chiefly UK ) To occupy premises in exchange for rent.
Synonym: rent
1854 August 9, Henry D Thoreau , “Economy”, in Walden; or, Life in the Woods , Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields , →OCLC :I do not mean to insist here on the disadvantage of hiring compared with owning, but it is evident that the savage owns his shelter because it costs so little, while the civilized man hires his commonly because he cannot afford to own it; nor can he, in the long run, any better afford to hire .
( transitive ) To employ; to obtain the services of (a person) in exchange for remuneration ; to give someone a job .
The company had problems when it tried to hire more skilled workers.
1897 December (indicated as 1898 ), Winston Churchill , chapter X, in The Celebrity: An Episode , New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company ; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd. , →OCLC :The skipper Mr. Cooke had hired at Far Harbor was a God-fearing man with a luke warm interest in his new billet and employer, and had only been prevailed upon to take charge of the yacht after the offer of an emolument equal to half a year's sea pay of an ensign in the navy.
( transitive ) To exchange the services of for remuneration.
They hired themselves out as day laborers. They hired out their basement for Inauguration week.
( transitive , chiefly UK ) To accomplish by paying for services.
After waiting two years for her husband to finish the tiling, she decided to hire it done.
( intransitive ) To accept employment.
They hired out as day laborers.
( transitive ) ( neologism ) (in the Jobs-to-be-Done Theory) To buy something in order for it to perform a function, to do a job
They hired a milkshake.
Antonyms
( antonym(s) of “ to employ ” ) : fire
Derived terms
Terms derived from hire (verb)
Translations
to obtain the services of in return for fixed payment
Arabic: أَجَّرَ (ar) ( ʔajjara )
Armenian: please add this translation if you can
Basque: alokatu
Belarusian: браць напрака́т impf ( bracʹ naprakát ) , узя́ць напрака́т pf ( uzjácʹ naprakát ) , найма́ць impf ( najmácʹ ) , наня́ць pf ( nanjácʹ )
Bulgarian: наемам (bg) ( naemam )
Catalan: llogar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 租借 (zh) ( zūjiè ) , 出租 (zh) ( chūzū )
Czech: najmout
Dutch: huren (nl)
Esperanto: lui (eo)
Finnish: vuokrata (fi)
French: louer (fr)
Galician: alugar (gl)
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: mieten (de) , heuern (de)
Greek: νοικιάζω (el) ( noikiázo )
Ancient Greek: μισθόω ( misthóō )
Hungarian: bérel (hu)
Italian: assoldare (it) , noleggiare (it)
Japanese: 借りる (ja) ( かりる, kariru )
Khmer: ជួល (km) ( cuəl )
Korean: 고용하다 (ko) ( goyonghada )
Middle English: hiren
Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
Ngazidja Comorian: uwadjiri
Oromo: mindeessuu
Ottoman Turkish: طوتمق ( tutmak )
Polish: wynajmować / wynająć , wypożyczać / wypożyczyć
Portuguese: contratar (pt) , alugar (pt)
Russian: брать напрока́т impf ( bratʹ naprokát ) , взять напрока́т pf ( vzjatʹ naprokát ) , нанима́ть (ru) impf ( nanimátʹ ) , наня́ть (ru) pf ( nanjátʹ )
Scottish Gaelic: fastaidh
Slovene: najeti (sl)
Swahili: -ajiri (sw)
Swedish: hyra (sv) , anlita (sv)
Thai: จ้าง (th) ( jâang )
Turkish: kiralamak (tr)
Ukrainian: бра́ти напрока́т impf ( bráty naprokát ) , узя́ти напрока́т pf ( uzjáty naprokát )
Vietnamese: thuê (vi) , mướn (vi)
Yiddish: דינגען ( dingen )
to employ
Albanian: please add this translation if you can
American Sign Language: OpenB@DistalSideChesthigh-PalmAcross RoundVert OpenB@DistalInsideTrunkhigh-PalmUp RoundHoriz OpenB@NearCenterTrunkhigh-PalmUp
Arabic: اِسْتَخْدَمَ (ar) ( istaḵdama ) , شَغَّلَ ( šaḡḡala ) , اِسْتَعْمَلَ (ar) ( istaʕmala ) , اِسْتَأْجَرَ ( istaʔjara )
Armenian: please add this translation if you can
Belarusian: найма́ць impf ( najmácʹ ) , наня́ць pf ( nanjácʹ )
Bulgarian: нае́мам (bg) ( naémam ) , цаня ( canja )
Burmese: please add this translation if you can
Catalan: contractar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 雇傭 ( gùyōng ) , 雇 (zh) ( gù )
Czech: zaměstnat
Danish: ansætte
Dutch: aanwerven (nl) , aanstellen (nl)
Esperanto: engaĝi , dungi (eo)
Finnish: palkata (fi) , työllistää (fi) , ottaa työhön
French: embaucher (fr) , employer (fr) , recruter (fr) , engager (fr)
Galician: alugar (gl) , empregar (gl) , contratar (gl)
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: anwerben (de) , anstellen (de) , einstellen (de) , anheuern (de) ( naut. )
Ido: engajar (io)
Ingrian: palkata
Irish: fostaigh
Italian: impiegare (it) , ingaggiare (it) , assumere (it)
Japanese: 雇う (ja) ( やとう, yatou ) , 雇用する (ja) ( こようする, koyō suru )
Khmer: ជួល (km) ( cuəl )
Korean: 고용하다 (ko) ( goyonghada )
Latgalian: lūņuot , olguot
Latin: conduco
Latvian: algot , nolīgt
Macedonian: најмува ( najmuva ) , изнајмува ( iznajmuva )
Middle English: hiren
Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
Nepali: हायर गर्नु ( hāyar garnu )
Norwegian: ansette
Occitan: contractar (oc) , engatjar (oc)
Ottoman Turkish: طوتمق ( tutmak )
Polish: najmować (do pracy), zatrudniać (pl) , angażować (pl) impf , zaangażować (pl) pf
Portuguese: contratar (pt) , empregar (pt)
Romanian: angaja (ro)
Russian: нанима́ть (ru) impf ( nanimátʹ ) , наня́ть (ru) pf ( nanjátʹ ) , трудоустра́ивать (ru) impf ( trudoustráivatʹ ) , трудоустро́ить (ru) pf ( trudoustróitʹ )
Scottish Gaelic: fastaidh
Slovene: najeti (sl)
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: pśistajaś
Spanish: contratar (es) , emplear (es)
Swahili: -ajiri (sw)
Swedish: anställa (sv)
Thai: จ้าง (th) ( jâang )
Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: işe almak
Ukrainian: найма́ти impf ( najmáty ) , найня́ти pf ( najnjáty )
Vietnamese: tuyển (vi)
to exchange the services of for remuneration
to accomplish by paying for services
Translations to be checked
See also
Anagrams
Abron
Etymology
From Akan hyire ( “ white clay ” ) .
Noun
hire
white clay
References
Trutenau, Languages of the Akan Area: Papers in Western Kwa Linguistics (1976)
Basque
Pronunciation
Pronoun
hire
genitive of hi , your
Japanese
Romanization
hire
Rōmaji transcription of ひれ
Middle Dutch
Contraction
hire
Contraction of hi dāer .
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old English hire ( “ her ” ) , from Proto-West Germanic *heʀā , *hiʀā , from Proto-Germanic *hezōz , genitive feminine singular of *hiz ( “ this ” ) , from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe ( “ here; this ” ) .
hir , hyre , hyr , ire , ir , here , her , ere , er , heyre , heore , hare , hure , hur , hurre , huere
Determiner
hire (nominative pronoun sche )
Third-person singular feminine genitive determiner: her , of her.
Used in place of the possessive suffix -es to denote possession by an antecedent noun.
1430 , Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale.”, in Canterbury Tales :
Synonyms
Descendants
See also
Middle English personal pronouns
nominative
accusative
dative
genitive
possessive
singular
1st-person
I , ich , ik
me
min mi 1
min
2nd-person
þou
þe
þin þi 1
þin
3rd-person
m
he
him hine 2
him
his
his hisen
f
sche , heo
hire heo
hire
hire hires , hiren
n
hit
hit him 2
his , hit
—
dual 3
1st-person
wit
unk
unker
2nd-person
ȝit
inc
inker
plural
1st-person
we
us , ous
oure
oure oures , ouren
2nd-person 4
ye
yow
your
your youres , youren
3rd-person
inh.
he
hem he 2
hem
here
here heres , heren
bor.
þei
þem , þeim
þeir
þeir þeires , þeiren
1 Used preconsonantally or before h .
2 Early or dialectal.
3 Dual pronouns are only sporadically found in Early Middle English; after that, they are replaced by plural forms. There are no third-person dual forms in Middle English.
4 Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.
Pronoun
hire (nominative sche )
Third-person singular feminine genitive pronoun: hers .
Synonyms
References
Etymology 2
From Old English hire ( “ her ” ) , from Proto-West Germanic *heʀē , *hiʀē , from Proto-Germanic *hezōi , dative feminine singular of *hiz ( “ this ” ) , from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe ( “ here; this ” ) .
Pronoun
hire (nominative sche )
Third-person singular feminine pronoun indicating a grammatical object: her .
( reflexive ) herself .
Third-person singular neuter pronoun indicating a grammatical object: it .
Descendants
See also
Middle English personal pronouns
nominative
accusative
dative
genitive
possessive
singular
1st-person
I , ich , ik
me
min mi 1
min
2nd-person
þou
þe
þin þi 1
þin
3rd-person
m
he
him hine 2
him
his
his hisen
f
sche , heo
hire heo
hire
hire hires , hiren
n
hit
hit him 2
his , hit
—
dual 3
1st-person
wit
unk
unker
2nd-person
ȝit
inc
inker
plural
1st-person
we
us , ous
oure
oure oures , ouren
2nd-person 4
ye
yow
your
your youres , youren
3rd-person
inh.
he
hem he 2
hem
here
here heres , heren
bor.
þei
þem , þeim
þeir
þeir þeires , þeiren
1 Used preconsonantally or before h .
2 Early or dialectal.
3 Dual pronouns are only sporadically found in Early Middle English; after that, they are replaced by plural forms. There are no third-person dual forms in Middle English.
4 Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.
References
Etymology 3
From Old English hȳr , from Proto-West Germanic *hūʀiju . The final vowel is generalised from the Old English oblique cases.
here , hier , hijre , hir , hoyre , huire , hure , huyre , hyer , hyr , hyre , hyure
Pronunciation
Noun
hire (plural hires )
One's salary ; wages .
Synonyms: mede , wage
A reward ; recompense .
Synonym: mede
One's deserts ; what one deserves .
c. 1395 , John Wycliffe , John Purvey [et al. ], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version) , MS Lich 10.) , published c. 1410 , Petre ·ii· 2:15 , page 113v , column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament , Lichfield : Bill Endres, 2010 :[ …] þat foꝛſaken þe riȝt weie .· ⁊ erriden ſuynge þe weie of balaam of boſoꝛ / which louyde þe hire of wickidneſſe who've abandoned the right way and strayed, following the way of Balaam of Bosor, who loved the fruits of wrongdoing.
A payment ; a charge .
Descendants
References
Etymology 4
Noun
hire
Alternative form of here ( “ army ” )
Etymology 5
Verb
hire
Alternative form of hiren ( “ to hire ” )
Norwegian Nynorsk
Adjective
hire
neuter singular of hiren
Old English
hyre , hiere , heore , hiore , hure , hir , hiræ , hira , hyræ , hyra , hyr , hieræ , heora
Pronunciation
Pronoun
hire
genitive / dative of hēo
Descendants
Middle English: hire , hir , hyre , hyr , ire , ir , here , her , ere , er , heyre , heore , hare , hure , hur , hurre , huere