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imp

Pronunciation: /ɪmp/

The English word “imp” has 13 meanings listed here.

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).
  8. Synonym of god (“person who owns and runs a multi-user dungeon”).

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…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.