articled

8.5

A person who trains under a formal contract in a job like law or accounting

adjective
/ˈɑːtɪkəld/

Archaic

: articulado

After completing his studies, he became an articled trainee at a prestigious law firm.

Examples

She is an articled clerk at a law firm.
After finishing university, he became an articled accountant.
After university, she became an articled clerk at a prominent law firm.
He spent three years as an articled accountant before qualifying.
In the UK, trainees in some professions are known as articled students.
She spent two years as an articled assistant, learning the ins and outs of the accounting profession.
Many aspiring lawyers start off as articled clerks to gain the necessary experience.

Synonyms

bound

vsarticled

Formal

23 6.0

Required to do something by law, duty, or agreement

refers specifically to a formal trainee contract in professional firms rather than any obligation

indentured

vsarticled

1 8.3

Someone who must work for another person because of a contract for a set time

focuses on training contracts within legal or accounting professions instead of general labour

apprenticed

vsarticled

5.5

Working for a skilled person under an official agreement to learn a trade

specifies such training contracts mainly in legal or accounting workplaces

Antonyms

to freelance

19 4.1

To work for different companies or clients without a permanent job

Surface Forms

articled positive

Morphology

articled = article (opaque) = article + ed

Although formed by the regular verb + -ed pattern, the meaning is a specialized legal/apprenticeship sense of 'article' that is not obvious to average learners.

Etymology

The word articled comes from article, which originally meant 'a short written rule', and before that from Latin articulus meaning 'a small joint'. Long ago, an apprentice or trainee signed the 'articles' of a contract to live and work for a master, so to be articled is to be officially bound by that training agreement.