hire

B1 Topic:Work & Careers

US /haɪɹ/ UK /ˈhaɪ(.)ə/ See IPA manual

Freq #2534

Meanings

1

verb
To give someone a job and pay them to work for you.

They hired two new secretaries in the department.
2

verb
To pay to use something for a short period of time.

We hired a car for two weeks because ours had broken down.
3

noun
The act of paying to use something for a short time.

I signed up for a week's car hire.
4

noun
A person who has recently been given a job.

The new hires need special training.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to give someone a job and... employ engage

2 verb · to pay to use something for... rent

Opposites

fire

Word family

Forms hiredhireshiring

Derived forms acquihiredehiregun-for-hirehirablehireehirelesshirelinghiremanhirerhireworthymishiremurder-for-hire

Related forms rent

Etymology

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- or *kweHs-. Compare Hittite 𒆪𒊭𒀭 (kuššan-, “fee, pay, wages, price”). Cognate with West Frisian hier (“hire”), Dutch huur (“lease, rental”), German Low German Hüür (“lease, rental”).

hire Old English hȳr Old English *hūʀiju Proto-West Germanic *hūzijaną Proto-Germanic *kewHs- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

External links

# hire

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /haɪɹ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈhaɪ(.)ə/
**Frequency rank:** 2534

## Meanings
1. To give someone a job and pay them to work for you.
2. To pay to use something for a short period of time.
3. The act of paying to use something for a short time.
4. A person who has recently been given a job.

## Examples
- They hired two new secretaries in the department.
- We hired a car for two weeks because ours had broken down.
- I signed up for a week's car hire.
- The new hires need special training.

## Antonyms
- fire

## Derived Forms
- acquihire
- dehire
- gun-for-hire
- hirable
- hiree
- hireless
- hireling
- hireman
- hirer
- hireworthy
- mishire
- murder-for-hire

## Related Forms
- rent

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: hire
- Root: hȳr
- Root: *hūʀiju
- Root: *hūzijaną
- Root: *kewHs-

## Etymology
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- or *kweHs-. Compare Hittite 𒆪𒊭𒀭 (kuššan-, “fee, pay, wages, price”). Cognate with West Frisian hier (“hire”), Dutch huur (“lease, rental”), German Low German Hüür (“lease, rental”).

## AI Etymology
Hire comes 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- or *kweHs-. Compare Hittite 𒆪𒊭𒀭 (kuššan-, “fee, pay, wages, price”). Cognate with West Frisian hier (“hire”), Dutch huur (“lease, rental”), German Low German Hüür (“lease, rental”). In current use, the main senses are “To give someone a job and pay them to work for you” and “To pay to use something for a short period of time”.

## Topics
- Work & Careers

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hire

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