Standard Lemma guide

self-employment

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

noun

Meaning 1

The act or practice of working for oneself, such as being an independent contractor.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

Self-employment lacks the security of working for a big company, but at least the only idiot boss you will meet is yourself.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *swé? Proto-Indo-European *selbh-der. Proto-Germanic *selbaz Old English self Old English self- Middle English self- English self- English employment English self-employment From self- + employment.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

Belarusian: самазанятасць (samazanjatascʹ) — working for oneself
Chinese Mandarin: 自由職業 /自由职业 (zìyóu zhíyè) — working for oneself
Chinese Mandarin: 自我雇用 (zìwǒ gùyòng) — working for oneself
Chinese Mandarin: 自主創業 /自主创业 (zìzhǔ chuàngyè) — working for oneself
Chinese Mandarin: 自營職業 /自营职业 (zìyíng zhíyè) — working for oneself
Chinese Mandarin: 個體經營 /个体经营 (gètǐ jīngyíng) — working for oneself
Chinese Mandarin: 自雇 (zìgù) — working for oneself
Finnish: itsensä työllistäminen — working for oneself
French: indépendant — working for oneself
German: Selbstständigkeit — working for oneself
German: Selbständigkeit — working for oneself
Hungarian: önfoglalkoztatás — working for oneself
Irish: féinfhostaíocht — working for oneself
Polish: samozatrudnienie — working for oneself
Russian: самоза́нятость (samozánjatostʹ) — working for oneself
Russian: самостоя́тельная за́нятость (samostojátelʹnaja zánjatostʹ) — working for oneself
Spanish: autoempleo — working for oneself
Turkish: serbest meslek — working for oneself
Ukrainian: самоза́йнятість (samozájnjatistʹ) — working for oneself

Word forms

Inflections and variants

No separate word forms were provided.

Word family

Derived and related words

Derived: none provided

Related: self-employed

Semantic map

Other relationships

Sources

Where this information comes from

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Real reading context

Examples

Meaning relationships

self-employment in complete knowledge articles