Apply

How to spell apply

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce apply

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does apply mean?

1. verbTo make a formal request, typically in writing, for a job, place, or benefit.
2. verbTo put something such as a rule, method, or skill into practical use.
3. verbTo spread or place a substance onto a surface.

Apply in a sentence

• She decided to apply for the management position before the deadline.

• The new manager will apply stricter rules to the expense process.

• Remember to apply a thin coat of primer before painting the wall.

• Graduates can apply for the scholarship through the university portal.

• Engineers apply the same formula to every load calculation.

• The instructions say to apply the cream twice a day.

Where does apply come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb applicare, which combined ad, meaning 'to' or 'toward', with plicare, meaning 'to fold' or 'to bend'. The literal sense was therefore 'to fold something onto' or 'to bring close to', as when one thing is laid against another. English took it up in the late 1300s through the Old French aplier, and from the early idea of physically attaching or laying one thing on another grew the modern senses of putting something to use, spreading it on a surface, and formally directing a request toward someone. The same plicare root surfaces in a whole family of relatives such as 'reply', 'ply', 'pliable', and 'complicate', all of which still carry the underlying idea of folding or bending. Knowing that the single p comes from ad shortening to ap- (one p) before the ply helps explain why the word is spelled with just two p letters in the doubled spot and a y at the end.

How the word is built

• ap- (to, toward, from Latin ad-)
• ply (to fold or bend, from Latin plicare)