someone who works for a skilled or qualified person in order to learn a trade or profession, esp for a recognized period any beginner or novice
- (transitive)
to take, place, or bind as an apprentice
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
ap•pren•tice /əˈprɛntɪs/USA pronunciation
n., v., -ticed, -tic•ing.
n. [countable]
v.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025n. [countable]
- a person who works for another in order to learn a trade:an apprentice to a plumber.
- a learner;
novice.
v.
- World History to send (someone) to work for another to learn a trade:[~ + object]We apprenticed him to a plumber.
- to serve as an apprentice:[no object]He apprenticed for six years.
ap•pren•tice
(ə pren′tis),USA pronunciation n., v., -ticed, -tic•ing.
n.
v.t.
v.i.
ap•pren′tice•ship′, n.
n.
- a person who works for another in order to learn a trade:an apprentice to a plumber.
- World History[Hist.]a person legally bound through indenture to a master craftsman in order to learn a trade.
- a learner;
novice;
tyro. - Military[U.S. Navy.]an enlisted person receiving specialized training.
- Sporta jockey with less than one year's experience who has won fewer than 40 races.
v.t.
- World Historyto bind to or place with an employer, master craftsman, or the like, for instruction in a trade.
v.i.
- 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
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