hireling

Meaning

Noun

• An employee who is hired, often to perform unpleasant tasks with little independence.
• Someone who does a job purely for money, rather than out of interest in the work itself.
• A horse for hire.
• A prostitute.

Related

Similar words

• flunky
• lackey
• mercenary

Origin

• From Middle English hirlyng, from Old English hȳrling, from Proto-West Germanic *hūʀijuling. Cognate with West Frisian hierling, Dutch huurling, German Low German Hüürling,
• German Heuerling.