Hireling
Pronunciation
- Canada IPA: /ˈhaɪrˌlɪŋ/
Origin
From Middle English, from Old English hȳrling ("hireling, employee"), from Proto-Germanic *hÅ«zijÅlingaz ("hireling"), equivalent to hire + -ling. Cognate with Dutch huurling ("hireling, mercenary").
Full definition of hireling
Noun
hireling
(plural hirelings)- (usually pejorative) an employee who is hired, often to perform unpleasant tasks with little independence
- 1848: William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity FairWhen my poor James was in the smallpox, did I allow any hireling to nurse him?
- (usually pejorative) someone who does a job purely for money, rather than out of interest in the work itself
- 1605: Francis Bacon, The Advancement of Learning... it may be truly affirmed that no kind of men love business for itself but those that are learned; for other persons love it for profit, as a hireling that loves the work for the wages;