imp

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To engraft or plant (a plant or part of one, a sapling, etc.).
  2. To graft or implant (something other than a plant); to fix or set (something) in.
  3. To engraft (a feather) on to a broken feather in a bird's wing or tail to repair it; to engraft (feathers) on to a bird, or a bird's wing or tail.
  4. To provide (someone or something) with wings, hence enabling them or it to soar.
  5. To add to or unite an object with (something) to lengthen the latter out or repair it; to eke out, enlarge, strengthen.
noun
  1. A small, mischievous sprite or a malevolent supernatural creature, somewhat comparable to a demon but smaller and less powerful, formerly regarded as the child of the devil or a demon (see sense 3.2).
  2. A mischievous child.
  3. A baby Tasmanian devil.
  4. A supporter (or less commonly, a player) of the Lincoln City Football Club.
  5. A young shoot of a plant, a tree, etc.; a sapling; also, a part of a plant used for grafting; a graft.
  6. An offspring or scion, especially of a noble family; (generally) a (usually male) child; a (young) man.
  7. Something added to or united with another to lengthen it out or repair it (such as an eke or small stand on which a beehive is placed, or a length of twisted hair in a fishing line).
noun
  1. Synonym of god (“person who owns and runs a multi-user dungeon”).
noun
  1. Initialism of inosine monophosphate.
  2. Initialism of integral membrane protein.
  3. Initialism of individual meal package.

Pronunciation

/ɪmp/ En-us-imp.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-imp.wav

Word forms

imp imps imping imped

Etymology

From Middle English impen, ympen (“to plant; (figuratively) to bury; to graft; to add to, insert, put into, set in; to mend (a falcon’s feather) by attaching a new feather on to the broken stump”), from Old English impian, ġeimpian (“to graft”), from Proto-West Germanic *impōn (“to graft”), from Vulgar Latin *imputō (“to graft”), from Ancient Greek ἔμφῠτος (émphŭtos, “implanted; planted”), from ἐμφῠ́ω (emphŭ́ō, “to implant”, from ἐν- (en-, prefix meaning ‘in’) + φῠ́ω (phŭ́ō, “to bring forth, produce; to grow”, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to appear; to become; to grow”))) + -τος (-tos).

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.