imbue

English

Etymology

From Latin imbuō (“wet, moisten”). Compare imbibe.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈbjuː/

  • Audio (Southern England):

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• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈbju/
• Rhymes: -uː

Verb

imbue (third-person singular simple present imbues, present participle imbuing, simple past and past participle imbued)

1. (transitive) To instill or inspire (someone) with a certain quality, feeling, or idea.
   • 1823, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus‎^[1], volume 1, London, pages 35-36:

     The patriarchal lives of my protectors caused these impressions to take a firm hold on my mind; perhaps, if my first introduction to humanity had been made by a young soldier, burning for glory and slaughter, I should have been imbued with different sensations.

2. (transitive) To wet or stain an object completely with some physical quality.

   The shirt was imbued with his scent.

   • 1772, “An Essay about the Origin and Virtue of Gems”, in THE WORKS OF THE HONOURABLE ROBERT BOYLE., A NEW EDITION edition, volume VOLUME THE THIRD, page 545:

     I might leave the answering of one part of the objection to physicians and chymists, who teach, that the antimonial glass and cup imbue wine and other liquors with a strong emetic quality, without any sensible loss of weight.

3. In general, to act in a way which results in an object becoming completely permeated or impregnated by some quality.

   The entire text is imbued with the sense of melancholy and hopelessness.

Synonyms

• endue (literary)
• infuse
• pervade
• steep
• suffuse

Derived terms

• imbuement
• imbuer
• reimbue
• unimbued

Translations

to wet or stain completely — see also wet,‎ stain

• Bulgarian: напоявам (bg) (napojavam), насищам (bg) (nasištam)
• Catalan: imbuir (ca)
• Czech: prodchnout pf, prosáknout pf
• Dutch: nat maken, bevlekken (nl)
• Finnish: kyllästää (fi)
• French: imprégner (fr)
• German: tränken (de)
• Hungarian: átitat (hu)
• Italian: permeare (it), tingere (it)
• Japanese: 染める (ja) (そめる, someru, literally “dye”)
• Latin: imbuō
• Portuguese: imbuir (pt), impregnar (pt)
• Romanian: îmbiba (ro), impregna (ro)
• Russian: пропи́тывать (ru) impf (propítyvatʹ)
• Spanish: imbuir (es)
• Ukrainian: просо́чувати impf (prosóčuvaty), просочи́ти pf (prosočýty)

to permeate or impregnate completely — see also permeate,‎ impregnate

• Bulgarian: пропивам (bg) (propivam)
• Catalan: impregnar (ca)
• Czech: prodchnout pf, naplnit (cs) pf, nasytit pf
• Dutch: doortrekken (nl), doordrenken (nl)
• Finnish: kyllästää (fi)
• French: imprégner (fr)
• German: durchdringen (de)
• Hungarian: átitat (hu)
• Italian: impregnare (it), permeare (it)
• Japanese: 吹き込む (ja) (ふきこむ, fukikomu, literally “blow into”)
• Portuguese: imbuir (pt), impregnar (pt)
• Romanian: impregna (ro)
• Russian: насыща́ть (ru) impf (nasyščátʹ)
• Spanish: imbuir (es), insuflar (es)
• Swedish: genomsyra (sv)
• Tocharian B: snätk-
• Ukrainian: просо́чувати impf (prosóčuvaty), просочи́ти pf (prosočýty)

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.by/

Adjective

imbue

1. feminine singular of imbu

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɪm.bu.ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈim.bu.e]

Verb

imbue

1. second-person singular present active imperative of imbuō