EXAMPLES FROM THE WEB FOR EMPLOY
He thought that our hero was about to beg to be taken back into his employ.
It is only right that I should employ a portion in His service.
How are they to employ the day, or what inducement have they to employ it, in recruiting their stock of health?
We shall have to employ two men to move the heavy furniture.
What do you imagine you could employ yourself with down there?
She says that her record of five years in your employ ought to count something in her favor.
But ambition is foreign to the Shakespeare-Hamlet nature, so the poet does not employ it.
If it be not well received, perhaps I may employ him on the occasion.
The storekeepers aren't apt to employ you at first; they'll be suspicious of you.
And it was considerate of you not to employ it in this instance.
WORD ORIGIN
early 15c., from Middle French employer, from Old French emploiier (12c.) "make use of, apply; increase; entangle; devote," from Latin implicare "enfold, involve, be connected with," from in- (see in- (2)) + plicare "to fold" (see ply (v.1)).
Sense of "hire, engage" first recorded in English 1580s, from "involve in a particular purpose," a sense which arose in Late Latin. Related: Employed; employing. The noun is 1660s, from French emploi. Imply, which is the same word, retains more of the original sense.