The period of time or state of being an apprentice; the status of learning a trade under a master.
From apprentice + -hood suffix (state or condition of being). The -hood suffix creates abstract nouns from concrete ones, as in childhood, adulthood. This compound dates to at least the 16th century.
Apprenticehood in medieval times was structured so brutally that it actually invented the modern concept of 'hazing'—senior apprentices would torment new ones in ways that carried forward to fraternities!
State of formal apprenticeship was legally restricted to males in most Western guilds and trade structures; gendered access created hierarchies in professional training.
Use 'apprenticeship' (gender-neutral) or 'training period' instead of 'apprenticehood' when discussing formative professional experience.
["apprenticeship","training period","formative practice"]
Women's equivalent mentorship and skill-building occurred outside formal 'apprenticehood' structures; modern usage should credit informal knowledge transmission as equally valid.
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