apprenticeship

UK: /əˈprɛntɪsʃɪp/

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

ap•pren•tice /əˈprɛntɪs/   n., v., -ticed, -tic•ing. 
n. [countable]

1. a person who works for another in order to learn a trade:
   an apprentice to a plumber.
2. a learner;
   novice.

v. 

3. World History to send (someone) to work for another to learn a trade:
   [~ + object] We apprenticed him to a plumber.
4. to serve as an apprentice:
   [no object] He apprenticed for six years.

ap•pren•tice•ship, n. 

[countable] an apprenticeship as an electrician.

[uncountable] Apprenticeship lasts two years.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

ap•pren•tice  (ə pren′tis), n., v., -ticed, -tic•ing. 
n. 

1. a person who works for another in order to learn a trade:
   an apprentice to a plumber.
2. World History [Hist.] a person legally bound through indenture to a master craftsman in order to learn a trade.
3. a learner;
   novice;
   tyro.
4. Military [U.S. Navy.] an enlisted person receiving specialized training.
5. Sport a jockey with less than one year's experience who has won fewer than 40 races.

v.t. 

6. World History to bind to or place with an employer, master craftsman, or the like, for instruction in a trade.

v.i. 

7. to serve as an apprentice:
   He apprenticed for 14 years under a master silversmith.

• Vulgar Latin *apprenditīcius, equivalent. to *apprendit(us) (for Latin apprehēnsus; see apprehensible) + Latin -īcius suffix forming adjs. from ptps., here nominalized
• Anglo-French, Old French ap(p)rentiz
• Middle English ap(p)rentis 1300–50

ap•pren′tice•ship′, n.