Employ
late Middle English (formerly also as imploy ): from Old French employer, based on Latin implicari ‘be involved in or attached to’, passive form of implicare (see imply). In the 16th and 17th century the word also had the senses ‘enfold, entangle’ and ‘imply’, derived directly from Latin; compare with implicate.
wiktionary
Borrowed from Middle French employer, from Latin implicare(“to infold, involve, engage”), from in(“in”) + plicare(“to fold”). Compare imply and implicate, which are doublets of employ .
etymonline
employ (v.)
early 15c., "apply or devote (something to some purpose); expend or spend," from Old French emploiier (12c.) "make use of, apply; increase; entangle; devote," from Latin implicare "enfold, involve, be connected with, unite, associate," from assimilated form of in- (from PIE root *en "in") + plicare "to fold" (from PIE root *plek- "to plait").
Imply, which is the same word, retains more of the original sense. Sense of "hire, engage" first recorded in English 1580s, from meaning "involve in a particular purpose," which arose in Late Latin. Related: Employed; employing; employable.
employ (n.)
1660s, "action of employing," from French emploi, from verb employer (see employ (v.)). From 1709 as "state of being employed."
