impart

See also: împart

English

WOTD – 24 March 2008

Etymology

From Middle English imparten, borrowed from Middle French impartir, empartir, from Late Latin impartiō, impertiō, from im- (“in”) + Latin partiō (“divide”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɑːt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɑɹt/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)t

Verb

impart (third-person singular simple present imparts, present participle imparting, simple past and past participle imparted)

1. (transitive) To give or bestow (e.g. a quality or property).

   The sun imparts warmth.

   to impart food to the poor

2. (transitive) To give a part or to share.

   Synonyms: bequeath, bestow, give; see also Thesaurus:give

   • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book VIII, line 440

     Expressing well the spirit within thee [Adam] free, / My [God's] image, not imparted to the brute.

   • 1907, Charles Henry Vine, The Old Faith and the New Theology‎^[1]:

     Did not Mazzini impart his spirit to divided Italy, and make her one?

   • 2002, John Pym, Time Out Film Guide‎^[2], page 202:

     Cary Grant imparts his ineffable charm, Kennedy (with metal hand) provides comic brutality, while Hepburn is elegantly fraught.

3. (transitive) To make known; to show (by speech, writing etc.).

   Synonyms: disclose, tell; see also Thesaurus:announce, Thesaurus:inform

   • 1662, John Dryden, letter to Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon

     Well may he then to you his cares impart.

   • c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene ii]:

     Gentle lady, / When I did first impart my love to you.

   • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:

     The departure was not unduly prolonged. […] Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments on the subject of Divine Intention in the disposition of buckets; farewells and last commiserations; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity.

4. (intransitive) To hold a conference or consultation.
5. (transitive) To obtain a share of; to partake of.
   • c. 1587 Anthony Munday, John a Kent and John a Cumber

     Sweet Cossen, what we may not now impart, heere let vs bury it, closely in our hart

Translations

to give a part or share

• Bulgarian: придавам (bg) (pridavam)
• Catalan: impartir (ca)
• Dutch: delen (nl), verdelen (nl)
• German: weitergeben (de), gewähren (de)
• Greek: δίνω (el) (díno)

• Italian: impartire (it)
• Korean: korean
• Romanian: împărți (ro)
• Russian: дава́ть (ru) (davátʹ), придава́ть (ru) (pridavátʹ)
• Sanskrit: ददाति (sa) (dadāti)

communicate the knowledge of

• Bulgarian: съобщавам (bg) (sǎobštavam)
• Dutch: mededelen (nl), communiceren (nl)
• French: donner (fr), communiquer (fr), transmettre (fr)
• German: mitteilen (de), vermitteln (de), weitergeben (de)
• Greek: μεταδίδω (el) (metadído)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ڕاگەیاندن‎ (rageyandin)

• Polish: dzielić się (pl)
• Portuguese: comunicar (pt), passar (pt)
• Russian: сообща́ть (ru) (soobščátʹ)
• Spanish: impartir (es)

to hold a conference or consultation

• Dutch: beraadslagen (nl), vergaderen (nl)

References

• impart at OneLook Dictionary Search
• impart in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Primat, arm pit, armpit