how to say “employee” in Hebrew
If you’re attending a Passover Seder
About a year ago I wrote an entry on the Hebrew words for employer – מַעֲסִיק (mah-ah-SEEK – masculine) and מַעֲסִיקָה (mah-ah-see-KAH – feminine).
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| from www.draftnz.com |
These words come from a “causative” הפעיל (heef-EEL) verb. Their passive הופעל (hoof-AHL) version – someone who is employed or an employee – is a מָעֳסָק (moh-ah-SAHK) if he’s a male and a מָעֳסֶקֶת (moh-ah-SEH-ket) if she’s a female.
Another, more common way of saying employee is to simply use the word worker – עוֹבֵד (oh-VED – masculine) or עוֹבֶדֶת (oh-VEH-det – feminine).
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| from www.ha-lool.co.il |
Please, do not confuse the word עובד with the word for slave – עֶבֶד (EH-ved). For example, יֵשׁ לִי הַרְבֵּה עֲבָדִים בָּעֵסֶק (yesh lee hahr-BEH ah-vah-DEEM bah-EH-sek) – I have lots of slaves in my (the) business is something you probably won’t want to say.
The terms פוֹעֵל (poh-EL) and פוֹעֶלֶת (poh-EH-let) refer to laborers.
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