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Appoint vs Employ - What's the difference?

appoint | employ |

As verbs the difference between appoint and employ

is that appoint is to fix with power or firmness; to establish; to mark out while employ is to hire (somebody for work or a job).

As a noun employ is

the state of being an employee; employment.

appoint

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • (obsolete) To fix with power or firmness; to establish; to mark out.
  • * 1611 , (King James Version) Proverbs 8.29
  • When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:
  • To fix the time and place of a meeting (by a decree, order, command etc.)
  • * 8 November 2014 , Ivan Hewett in The Telegraph'', '' Art on demand makes emperors of us all
  • *:We have to wait until they're ready to receive us, and make sure we turn up at the appointed time.
  • * 1820 , The Edinburgh Annual Register
  • *:His Royal Highness called to pay his respects to her Majesty ; but, from the unexpected nature of his visit, her Majesty was not in a state then to receive him ; but soon after sent a letter to Prince Leopold, to appoint one o'clock this day for an interview.
  • * 1611 , (King James Version) 2 Samuel 15.15
  • Thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint .
  • To give a job or a role to somebody
  • * 3 November 2014 , Fredric U. Dicker in the (New York Post), '' Cuomo appointed 'vote or else' strategist
  • *:Neal Kwatra, appointed by Cuomo to be the state Democratic Party's chief campaign strategist, was identified by two key Democratic insiders
  • * 1611 , (King James Version) Numbers 4.19
  • Aaron and his shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service.
  • To furnish completely; to provide with all the equipment necessary; to equip or fit out.
  • * 2009 , Donald Olson, Germany for Dummies
  • *:The hotel is beautifully designed and beautifully appointed in a classic, modern style that manages to be both serene and luxurious at the same time.
  • (archaic, transitive, legal) To direct, designate, or limit; to make or direct a new disposition of, by virtue of a power contained in a conveyance;—said of an estate already conveyed.
  • :(Alexander Mansfield Burrill)
  • To point at by way of censure or commendation; to arraign.
  • * Milton
  • Appoint not heavenly disposition.

    Derived terms

    * appointee * appointer * appointive * appointment * self-appointed

    employ

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (l) (obsolete)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The state of being an employee; employment.
  • ''The school district has six thousand teachers in its employ .

    Synonyms

    * employment * hire

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To hire (somebody for work or a job).
  • * 1668 July 3rd, , “Thomas Rue contra'' Andrew Hou?toun” in ''The Deci?ions of the Lords of Council & Se??ion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 547
  • Andrew Hou?toun'' and ''Adam Mu?het'', being Tack?men of the Excize, did Imploy ''Thomas Rue'' to be their Collector, and gave him a Sallary of 30. pound ''Sterling for a year.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
  • , passage=Charles had not been employed above six months at Darracott Place, but he was not such a whopstraw as to make the least noise in the performance of his duties when his lordship was out of humour.}}
  • To use (somebody for a job, or something for a task).
  • * 1598 , (William Shakespeare), (Othello) , Act 1, Scene iii:
  • Valiant Othello, we must straight employ you / against the general enemy Ottoman.
  • * (Joseph Addison) (1672-1719)
  • This is a day in which the thoughtsought to be employed on serious subjects.
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Charles T. Ambrose
  • , title= Alzheimer’s Disease , volume=101, issue=3, page=200, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=(Gary Younge)
  • , volume=188, issue=26, page=18, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Hypocrisy lies at heart of Manning prosecution , passage=The dispatches […] also exposed the blatant discrepancy between the west's professed values and actual foreign policies. Having lectured the Arab world about democracy for years, its collusion in suppressing freedom was undeniable as protesters were met by weaponry and tear gas made in the west, employed by a military trained by westerners.}}
  • To make busy.
  • * 1598 , (William Shakespeare), (The Merchant of Venice) , Act 2, Scene viii:
  • Let it not enter in your mind of love: / Be merry, and employ your chiefest thoughts / to courtship and such fair ostents of love / as shall conveniently become you there

    Derived terms

    * employee * employer * employment