im-

See also: Appendix:Variations of "im"

English

Etymology 1

From Latin im-, assimilated form of in- used before b-/p-/m-.

Prefix

im-

1. Expressing negation; not.

Usage notes

Widely used in borrowings (from French and Latin). Somewhat productive (appended as prefix to existing English words).

Synonyms

• (not): a-, an-, dys-, i-/il-/in-/ir-, mal-, non-, un-

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with im-

imbitter

imblaze

imbreathe

imbrute

imburse

imprimery

immalleable

immaterial

immemorial

immiscibility

immiscible

immiscibly

immiserize

immobile

immobilization

immodesty

immoral

immortal

impalace

imparasitic

imparity

imparous

imparsimonious

impartiality

imparticipable

impassive

impatency

impatent

impaternate

impatience

impatient

impectinate

impenetrable

impenetrate

impenetrative

impenitent

imperceptible

imperfect

imperfection

imperfectly

imperforate

imperil

impermeable

impermissible

impermutable

impersistent

impersonation

impersonable

impersonal

imperspirable

impertinence

impertinent

imperturbable

impervertible

impicture

implant

implastic

impoetic

impolarizable

impolished

impolite

impopular

impossibility

impossible

impredictability

impregnable

imprejudicate

imprestable

imprison

improcreant

improcurable

improducible

improminent

improper

improperly

improportionate

impropriety

improtected

imprudential

impudic

impudicity

impunitive

Etymology 2

From em-, from Old French em-. Also from later Middle French im-, partly by confusion with im- of Latin origin (on which see above).

Prefix

im-

1. Alternative form of the prefix em-, itself variant of en-.

Usage notes

Both used in borrowings (from French and Latin), and productive (appended as prefix to existing English words), as in imbed, imbitter, imbody, imbosom, imbower, imbrown; and similarly impark.

Derived terms

English terms prefixed with im-

imbitter

imblaze

imbreathe

imbrute

imburse

imprimery

immalleable

immaterial

immemorial

immiscibility

immiscible

immiscibly

immiserize

immobile

immobilization

immodesty

immoral

immortal

impalace

imparasitic

imparity

imparous

imparsimonious

impartiality

imparticipable

impassive

impatency

impatent

impaternate

impatience

impatient

impectinate

impenetrable

impenetrate

impenetrative

impenitent

imperceptible

imperfect

imperfection

imperfectly

imperforate

imperil

impermeable

impermissible

impermutable

impersistent

impersonation

impersonable

impersonal

imperspirable

impertinence

impertinent

imperturbable

impervertible

impicture

implant

implastic

impoetic

impolarizable

impolished

impolite

impopular

impossibility

impossible

impredictability

impregnable

imprejudicate

imprestable

imprison

improcreant

improcurable

improducible

improminent

improper

improperly

improportionate

impropriety

improtected

imprudential

impudic

impudicity

impunitive

Anagrams

• MI, mi, mi.

Catalan

Prefix

im-

1. Form used before a root beginning with the letter b, m, or p of in-

   ‎im- + ‎perdible → ‎imperdible

Choctaw

Prefix

im- (before consonants i̱-, class III third-person)

1. the indirect object of an active transitive verb

   to him, her, it or them; for him, her, it or them

2. the subject of an intransitive affective verb

   he, she, it or they

3. the direct object of a small set of transitive verbs mostly dealing with affect, communication and intimacy

   him, her, it or them

4. indicates possession of a noun

   his, her, its or their

   hattak imofi

   the man's dog

Inflection

Choctaw Person Markers

			class I			class II		class III		class N		imperative
			+s	+C	+V	+C/i	+a/o	+C	+V	+C	+V	+C	+V
first-person	singular	initial	-li			sa-	si-	a̱-	am-	ak-		n/a
		medial						-sa-	-sam-
	paucal		ī-		il-	pi-		pi̱-	pim-	kī-	kil-
	plural					hapi-		hapi̱-	hapim-
second-person	singular		is-	ish-		chi-		chi̱-	chim-	chik-		∅
	plural		has-	hash-		hachi-		hachi̱-	hachim-	hachik-		ho-	oh-
third-person			∅			∅		i̱-	im-	ik-

Classical Nahuatl

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /amo/

Prefix

im-

1. (personal prefix, possessive) Used to form the third-person plural possessive of nouns: their

   calli (“house”) → imcal (“their house”)

Derived terms

Category Classical Nahuatl nouns prefixed with im- not found

See also

Classical Nahuatl possessive prefixes

	Singular	Plural
1st person	no-	to-
2nd person	mo-	amo-
3rd person	ī-	īm-
impersonal	tē-

East Central German

Etymology

Compare German -um, English um-, Dutch om-, Swedish om-, Icelandic um-.

Prefix

im-

1. (Erzgebirgisch) round, round about
2. (Erzgebirgisch) repeatedly, over again, re-
3. (Erzgebirgisch) in another way
4. (Erzgebirgisch) to the ground, down, over

Derived terms

• Imbau
• imbaue
• imblohsn
• imbrenge
• imdrehe
• imfahrn
• imflieng
• Imgaabing
• imgaam
• imgebardlt
• imgenitt
• imgiehe
• imgromme
• imguckn
• imhaae
• imhern
• imhilln
• imkehrn
• imknickn
• imkomme
• imkrampln
• imleeng
• imlodn
• imme
• immedimm
• immenim
• immering
• immering kumme
• immerink
• immesisst
• immr
• immriehrn
• imreime
• imrenne
• imschietn
• imschreim
• imse
• imwannln
• imzeine
• imziehe

Further reading

• Hendrik Heidler (11 June 2020), Hendrik Heidler's 400 Seiten: Echtes Erzgebirgisch: Wuu de Hasen Hoosn haaßn un de Hosen Huusn do sei mir drhamm: Das Original Wörterbuch: Ratgeber und Fundgrube der erzgebirgischen Mund- und Lebensart: Erzgebirgisch – Deutsch / Deutsch – Erzgebirgisch‎^[1] (in German), 3. geänderte Auflage edition, Norderstedt: BoD – Books on Demand, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 46

French

Etymology

From Latin in (“without”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃/ (always before a b or p, sometimes before a mm)
• IPA^(key): /im/ (sometimes before a m)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Prefix

im-

1. a form of the prefix in-, used before b, m and p

Derived terms

French terms prefixed with im-

imbrisable

imbrûlé

imbuvable

immanquable

immémorable

imméthodique

immobile

immortel

immotivé

impareil

imparable

impartial

impatient

impatriotisme

impénétrable

impénitent

impensable

impoli

imprévision

improportionnel

imprudent

imputrescible

Further reading

• “im-”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• mi-

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish imm-, from Proto-Celtic *ambi-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi.

Prefix

im- (lenites except with m; becomes iom- before broad m)

1. about, around, peri-

Prefix

im- (intensive particle; lenites except with m; becomes iom- before broad consonant or vowel)

1. great, very

Derived terms

Irish terms prefixed with im-

imagallamh

imaistrigh

imaistriú

imbhualadh

imchruth

imchuairt

iompair

imdhéanamh

imdhearg

imdhíon

imdhruid

imeagla

imghearradh

iomlán

imleabhar

imlíne

imlitir

imoibrigh

iomrá

imtharraing

imtheorannaí

imtheorannaigh

References

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “im-”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Italian

Etymology

Assimilated form of in-, before b-/p-/m-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /im/
• Hyphenation: im-

Prefix

im-

1. alternative form of in-

Anagrams

• -mi, MI, mi

Latin

Etymology

Assimilated form of in-, before b-/p-/m-.

Prefix

im-

1. alternative form of in-

Northern Ndebele

Prefix

im-

1. Class 9 noun prefix; form of in- used before stems beginning with a labial consonant.

Northern Ohlone

Alternative forms

• em- (before syllables with open vowels)

Etymology

Compare Southern Ohlone men-.

Pronoun

im-

1. you, thou (second-person, singular, subject proclitic pronoun)

Pronoun

im-

1. your, thy (second-person, singular, possessive pronoun)

See also

Northern Ohlone personal pronouns

	person	subject			object			possessive
		disjunctive1	proclitic	enclitic	disjunctive1	proclitic	enclitic
singular	first	kaana	ek-	-ek, -k	kiš, kaaniš	kiš-	-kiš	ek-, kaanak
	second	meene	em-, im-	-em, -im, -m	miš	emiš-, imiš-, miš-	-miš	em-, meenem
	third	waaka	Ø-2	-Ø2	wiš	Ø-2, eš-	-Ø2, -eš	i-, waakai-
plural	first	makkin	mak-	-mak	makkiš, makkinše	—	—	mak-, makkinmak
	second	makkam	kam-	-kam	makkamše	—	—	kam-, makkam
	third	waakamak	ya-	-ya	yaṭiš	—	—	ya-, waakamak

¹ Disjunctive is mostly used in copular sentences or for emphasis, either alone (eg. kaana) or with a clitic (eg. kaana-k ...-ek).
² Null morpheme. An unmarked verb implies a third person singular pronoun. The disjunctives waaka and wiš may also be used.
Note: Proclitic and enclitic forms can combine and undergo syncope, eg. ellešk (“let me do to him/her/it”) = elle +‎ -eš +‎ -ek

References

• María de los Angeles Colós, José Guzman, and John Peabody Harrington (1930s), Chochenyo Field Notes (Survey of California and Other Indian Langauges)‎^[2], Unpublished

Ojibwe

Prefix

im-

1. alternative form of nim-

See also

Ojibwe personal prefixes

		stem begins with...	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
consonants		p t k h ch m n s sh w y	ni-	gi-	o-
		d g ' j z zh	nin-
		b	nim-
vowels		o	nindo-	gido-	odo-
		a aa e i	nind-	gid-	od-
		oo	n-	g-
		ii			w-

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin im-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /im/
• Rhymes: -im
• Syllabification: im-
• Homophone: im

Prefix

im-

1. im-, en-

   ‎im- + ‎moralizm → ‎immoralizm

Derived terms

Polish terms prefixed with im-

immoralista

immoralizm

immoralny

Further reading

• im- in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Prefix

im-

1. Allomorph of in-, used before ⟨p⟩ and ⟨b⟩.

Spanish

Prefix

im-

1. a form of the prefix in-, used before b and p

Further reading

• “im-”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

Swazi

Prefix

im-

1. Class 9 noun prefix; form of in- used before stems beginning with a labial consonant.

Xhosa

Prefix

im-

1. Class 9 noun prefix; form of in- used before stems beginning with a labial consonant.

Zulu

Prefix

ím-

1. Class 9 noun prefix; form of in- used before stems beginning with a labial consonant.

References

• C. M. Doke; B. W. Vilakazi (1972), “im-, in-”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “im-, in-”