Recruitment

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /rɪˈkruːt.mənt /

Definitions

1. The process of finding, attracting, and hiring suitable individuals for positions within an organization or military force
2. The act of searching for and selecting qualified candidates to fill job openings or roles within a company or group
3. The practice of identifying, assessing, and bringing on board potential employees to meet specific organizational needs

Etymology: "Recruitment" is built from "recruit" and the suffix "-ment," which forms nouns denoting an action or its result, as in "amazement" or "development." Its first element, "recruit," has a more surprising past than its modern sense suggests. It comes from French "recrue," a word meaning a fresh supply or reinforcement, and that noun is the feminine past participle of "recroître," meaning to grow again. The French verb "recruter" came from the noun, so the idea was originally of replenishing a depleted body of troops with new bodies, and the sense of a single person enlisting followed. The noun "recruitment" was formed in English from that stock. Its French source, "recrutement," was already in use for the same act of raising fresh soldiers, so the English word carries the military sense of replenishing ranks that the modern workplace meaning has largely borrowed.

Synonyms: hiring, enlistment, staffing

Antonyms: dismissal, firing