A Recruit Is New Growth
A recruit is a newly enlisted member. The French original means fresh growth, as of a plant putting out new shoots.
A recruit is someone newly enlisted into an army or an organisation. The French *recrue* means a new growth or increase, from a verb meaning to grow again — an army losing men replaced them the way a hedge replaces cut branches. The metaphor is agricultural and slightly bleak.
- A new member. *A raw recruit.*
- To enlist new members. *Recruit volunteers.*
- Recruitment — the process. *Recruitment is slow.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | recruit | A new recruit. |
| Plural | recruits | Fifty recruits. |
| Verb | recruit | Recruit staff. |
| Noun | recruitment | Graduate recruitment. |
| Person | recruiter | A specialist recruiter. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Recruits complete twelve weeks of training.Military.
- The charity recruits volunteers locally.The verb.
- Recruitment has been difficult this year.The process, uncountable.
Recruitment words
- Vacancy — the post to be filled
- Shortlist — candidates selected for interview
- Headhunting — approaching people already employed elsewhere
- Onboarding — settling a new starter into the role
- Attrition — the rate at which people leave
From French *recrue*, new growth or a fresh levy of troops, from *recroître*, to grow again, from Latin *recrescere*. The same *crescere* gives *crescent*, *increase* and *crescendo*.
Recruit or hire?
Recruiting is the whole process of finding and selecting people. Hiring is the act of taking someone on.
Why is a beginner called a raw recruit?
Raw here means untrained and unprocessed, as in raw material. The phrase is at least two centuries old.