Employable

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Possessing the skills, qualifications, and attributes necessary to be hired and perform work successfully
2. Having the requisite skills, credentials, and personal qualities that enable one to secure employment and fulfill job responsibilities
3. Being equipped with the necessary abilities, education, and character traits that make an individual suitable for hiring and effective work performance

Etymology: "Employable" is a straightforward formation: the verb "employ" with the suffix "-able," meaning "capable of being." The suffix has a long lineage. It descends from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning roughly "to grasp" or "to take hold," which passed into Latin as "-bilis" and then "-abilis," and reached English through Old French, where it had become "-able" by the time it arrived in Middle English. Because the suffix is so productive, it could attach to almost any verb, and English speakers have long used it to form new words on demand. "Employ" itself came into English from Old French "emploier," from Latin "implicare," meaning "to enfold" or "to involve." Its sense of hiring someone for work developed from the older idea of applying or using something, so that a person who is "employed" is in a sense being put to use. Adding "-able" to that gives a word meaning someone who can be put to use in this way.

Synonyms: hirable, recruitable

Antonyms: unemployable