non-employedadj.n.
/ˌnɒnᵻmˈplɔɪd/, /ˌnɒnɛmˈplɔɪd/, U.S. /ˌnɑnəmˈplɔɪd/ A. adj.
1. Of time: not occupied in work, not spent in work. rare before 20th cent.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > idleness, lack of occupation or activity > [adjective]
idlec950
tooma1340
unoccupiedc1405
void1530
restyc1540
unbusied1570
idlefula1652
haking1703
unbusy1731
otiose1850
non-employed1853
1853 Godey's Lady's Bk. June 571 Bands, sleeves, yokes, etc., and the collars and cuffs of night-dresses, might all be wrought in the non-employed moments of morning and evening visiting.
1982 Rev. Econ. & Statistics 64 3 We will not differentiate between these two uses of non-employed time.
1998 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 5 Nov. t9 Her four brothers spend their non-employed hours eating their elders out of house and home.
2. Of a person: not in employment; that does not have a job.Sometimes distinguished from unemployed in referring to a person who is not necessarily expected to be in or seeking employment, or who is not registered as unemployed.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > lack of work > [adjective] > not working or unemployed
servicelessc1450
unlabouredc1450
masterless1471
unwrought1550
unplaced1558
labourless1576
flag-fallen1609
unlabouring1619
disemployed1651
hireless1651
unengaged1654
unemployed1667
unworking1696
untoiling1748
workless1758
occupationless1822
placeless1828
out of work1833
non-working1841
unhired1852
jobless1862
out of (or in) collar1862
non-employed1876
spare1919
on the beach1923
in dry dock1927
off-the-job1950
on (also upon) the street(s)1980
unwaged1981
1876 F. A. Walker Wages Question 221 The division of the body of laborers into the employed and the non-employed, or independent workmen..cannot but profoundly influence the propagation of economic impulses.
1919 G. Wallas Our Social Heritage 105 Britain is the only great nation in which the industrial and intellectual employees form a clear majority over any combination of the agricultural population and the non-employed class.
1940 C. Raushenbush in E. Stein & J. Davis Labor Probl. in Amer. v. xxxvi. 817 An employed man whose nonemployed wife bears a child is given 40 shillings.
1964 M. A. K. Halliday et al. in J. A. Fishman Readings Sociol. of Lang. (1968) 140 The human sciences all introduce their own patterning: people are..employed, self-employed, non-employed or unemployed.
2001 Western Mail (Cardiff) (Nexis) 9 June 34 To be eligible..sole traders..must give priority to employing someone either non-employed or registered unemployed at the time.
B. n.
With plural agreement. Non-employed people. Usually with the.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > one who does not work > [noun]
vacant1602
outler1786
idleman1832
non-producer1840
unworker1843
non-worker1851
non-employed1876
out of work1883
out-of-worker1894
unemployed1900
unwaged1981
UB401983
1876 F. A. Walker Wages Question 221 Let us inquire..what would be the effects, did the employed and the non-employed constitute two great non-competing groups.
1894 Publ. Amer. Econ. Assoc. 9 59 The disinclination on the part of workmen to disclose the real number of non-employed for fear that the employer will take advantage of it.
1911 S. Nearing Social Adjustment xiv. 272 The non-employed are out of work because they are unable to do the work.
1955 G. D. H. Cole Stud. in Class Struct. vi. 154 Census classification..counts the nonemployed as ‘occupied’ when they describe themselves as available for work, or have retired from ‘gainful occupations’.
1989 M. Jefferys Growing Old in Twentieth Cent. (BNC) 15 The assumption that the retirement pension is not earned but an unreciprocated gift from the employed to the non-employed would be found to be untenable.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1853