impel

English

WOTD – 13 April 2008

Etymology

From Middle English impellen, borrowed from Latin impellō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɛl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl

Verb

1. (transitive) To urge a person; to press on; to incite to action or motion via intrinsic motivation.

   Antonym: (to compel or drive extrinsically) propel

   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 2, in The Mirror and the Lamp‎^[1]:

     She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid, […]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.

2. (transitive) To drive forward; to propel an object.

   Synonym: propel

Antonyms

• expel

Related terms

• impellent
• impeller
• impulse

Translations

To urge a person; to press on; to incite to action or motion via intrinsic motivation

• Bulgarian: подтиквам (bg) (podtikvam), подбуждам (bg) (podbuždam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 促使 (zh) (cù shǐ)

• Dutch: aanzetten (nl)
• Esperanto: motivigi
• French: motiver (fr), inciter (fr), pousser (fr)
• Greek:

  Ancient: προτρέπω (protrépō)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Persian: واداشتن (fa) (vâdâštan)
• Portuguese: impelir (pt)
• Quechua: tanqay
• Russian: побужда́ть (ru) (pobuždátʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: sȉliti (sh) impf
• Spanish: impeler (es)

To drive forward; to propel an object

• Bulgarian: движа (bg) (dviža), тласкам (bg) (tlaskam), задвижвам (bg) (zadvižvam)
• Dutch: voortdrijven (nl)
• Esperanto: antauxenigi
• French: propulser (fr), éjecter (fr), pousser (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: whakawhana, whakanekeneke, torohaki
• Russian: приводи́ть (privodítʹ) в (v) движе́ние (dvižénije) (privodítʹ v dvižénije)
• Spanish: impeler (es)

References

• “impel”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “impel”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.