imp

See also imp., and IMP

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /ɪmp/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪmp

Etymology 1

Old English impa ("graft"). Cognate with Danish ympe, German Impf, Swedish ymp.

Noun

imp (plural imps)

1. (obsolete) A young shoot of a plant, tree etc. [9th-17th c.]
2. (obsolete) A scion, offspring; a child. [15th-19th c.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene I.3:

     And thou most dreaded impe of highest Ioue, / Faire Venus sonne, [...] come to mine ayde [...].

3. A child of the Devil; a malevolent supernatural creature, similar to a demon but smaller and less powerful. [from 16th c.]
4. A mischievous child. [from 17th c.]
   • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

     I've left my young children to look after themselves, and a more mischievous and troublesome set of young imps doesn't exist...

Synonyms

• (mischievous child) brat, urchin

Related terms

• impish

Translations

demonic creature

Chinese: Mandarin: 惡魔 (cmn), 恶魔 (cmn) (èmó), 邪鬼 (cmn) (xiéguǐ) Dutch: kabouter (nl) m., aardmannetje (nl) n. Finnish: piru (fi), pikkupiru (fi), maahinen (fi) Greek: διαβολάκι (el) (diavoláki) n.

Japanese: 邪鬼 (ja) (じゃき, jaki), 悪魔 (ja) (あくま, akuma) Polish: diabełek m., imp m. Russian: чертёнок (ru) (čertjónok) m., бесёнок (ru) (besjónok) m., дьяволёнок (ru) (djavoljónok) m.

mischievous child

Chinese: Mandarin: 小鬼 (cmn) (xiǎoguǐ) Dutch: schelm (nl) m. Finnish: riiviö (fi) Greek: διαβολάκι (el) (diavoláki) n.

Japanese: 茶目 (ja) (ちゃめ, chame) Russian: шалун (ru) (šalún) m., пострелёнок (ru) (postreljónok) m.; чертёнок (ru) (čertjónok) m., бесёнок (ru) (besjónok) m., дьяволёнок (ru) (djavoljónok) m., баловник (ru) (balovník) m.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

French: diablotin (fr) m., lutin (fr) m. German: Teufelchen n., Kobold m., Schlingel m. Korean: 꼬마 도깨비 (kkoma doggaebi)

Portuguese: diabrete m. Serbo-Croatian: vragolan m., vragolanka f. Spanish: diablillo (es) m., bribonzuelo (es) m.

Etymology 2

Old English impian, apparently ultimately from a Latin source. Cognate with German impfen.

Verb

imp (third-person singular simple present imps, present participle imping, simple past and past participle imped)

1. (obsolete) To plant or engraft.
2. (falconry) To engraft feathers into a bird's wing.

   "For, if I imp my wing on Thine",--Herbert (1633)

3. To eke out, strengthen, enlarge.

Anagrams

• MIP
• PIM
• PMI