implement

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Late Latin implēmentum (“a filling up”), from Latin impleō (“I fill up”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ĭmʹplə-mənt, IPA^(key): /ˈɪmpləmənt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

implement (plural implements)

1. A tool or instrument for working with.

   They carried an assortment of gardening implements in the truck.

   • 1900, Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, Avon Books, (translated by James Strachey) pg. 234:

     A man dreamt as follows: He saw two boys struggling—barrel-maker’s boys, to judge by the implements lying around.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:instrument

Translations

a tool

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: инструмент (bg) m (instrument), уред (bg) m (ured), прибор (bg) m (pribor)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 工具 (zh) (gōngjù)

• Danish: redskab (da) n
• Dutch: gereedschap (nl) n, hulpmiddel (nl) n
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Estonian: riist
• Finnish: työkalu (fi), väline (fi), apuväline (fi)
• French: instrument (fr) m
• Galician: ferramenta (gl) f
• German: Werkzeug (de) n, Gerät (de) n, Arbeitsgerät (de) n
• Hebrew: כלים‎ (kelím), כלי‎ (he) (kli)
• Ido: utensilo (io), instrumento (io), implemento (io)
• Indonesian: perkakas (id), alat (id)
• Irish: uirlis f
• Italian: attrezzo (it) m, utensile (it) m, arnese (it) m
• Japanese: 道具 (ja) (どうぐ, dōgu)
• Javanese: perkakas (jv), alat (jv)

• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ئاڵات‎ (allat)

  Northern Kurdish: amûr (ku), alet (ku), alav (ku), hacet (ku), halet (ku)

• Latin: armamentum n
• Maori: taputapu
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: redskap (no) m or n

  Nynorsk: reiskap m

• Polish: narzędzie (pl) n
• Portuguese: implemento (pt) m, ferramenta (pt) f, instrumento (pt) m
• Russian: инструме́нт (ru) m (instrumént), прибо́р (ru) m (pribór), ору́дие (ru) n (orúdije), сре́дство (ru) n (srédstvo)
• Serbo-Croatian: instrument (sh), oruđe (sh), sredstvo (sh)
• Spanish: implemento (es) m, herramienta (es) f, instrumento (es) m
• Swahili: tekeleza (sw)
• Swedish: redskap (sv)
• Tagalog: pagaway
• Turkish: araç (tr)
• Welsh: teclyn (cy) m

Etymology 2

From Scottish English or Scots implement (“fulfill”)

Pronunciation

• enPR: ĭmʹplə-mĕnt, IPA^(key): /ˈɪmpləmɛnt/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

Verb

implement (third-person singular simple present implements, present participle implementing, simple past and past participle implemented)

2. to bring about; to put into practice; to carry out

   It’s a good thought, but it will be a difficult thing to implement.

   • 1960 December, “The Irish Scene”, in Trains Illustrated, page 715:

     A considerable amount of beet comes from the Clonakilty and Courtmacsherry growing areas to Mallow and if the closure proposals mentioned are implemented this traffic will in future years be thrown on roads ill-suited to such heavy haulage.

   • 2021 May 29, David Hytner, “Chelsea win Champions League after Kai Havertz stuns Manchester City”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Guardiola, who last won the Champions League in 2011, started with no defensive midfielder and no recognised striker and watched his midfielder-heavy lineup struggle to implement a complicated gameplan.

Usage notes

• Nouns serving as grammatical objects that commonly collocate: plan, programme, strategy, policy, agreement, order, specification, etc.

Derived terms

• implementable
• implementation
• implementer

Translations

bring about

• Arabic: نَفَّذَ‎ (naffaḏa), نَجَزَ‎ (najaza), حَقَّقَ‎ (ḥaqqaqa)
• Belarusian: выко́нваць impf (vykónvacʹ), вы́канаць pf (výkanacʹ)
• Bulgarian: изпълнявам (bg) (izpǎlnjavam), осъществявам (bg) (osǎštestvjavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 實施 (zh), 实施 (zh) (shíshī), 執行 (zh), 执行 (zh) (zhíxíng), 貫徹 (zh), 贯彻 (zh) (guànchè), 實現 (zh), 实现 (zh) (shíxiàn)

• Czech: uskutečnit (cs), implementovat (cs) impf or pf
• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: implementeren (nl), (in de praktijk) toepassen (nl), uitwerken (nl)
• Esperanto: efektivigi
• Estonian: teostama
• Finnish: toteuttaa (fi), panna toimeen
• French: appliquer (fr), exécuter (fr), établir (fr), implémenter (fr)
• German: vollziehen (de), durchführen (de), erfüllen (de), implementieren (de), ausführen (de), umsetzen (de)
• Hebrew: יישם‎ (yisém), מימש‎ (mimésh)
• Hungarian: végrehajt (hu), megvalósít (hu)
• Ido: realigar (io)
• Italian: mettere in pratica, attuare (it), implementare (it)

• Japanese: 実行する (じっこうする, jikkō-surú), 実現する (じつげんする, jitsugen-surú)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: bi cih anîn (ku), bi cih kirin (ku)

• Latvian: īstenot
• Maori: whakatinana
• Persian: اجرا کردن‎ (fa) (ejrâ kardan), پیادیدن‎ (fa)
• Polish: zrealizować (pl), wprowadzić w życie
• Portuguese: implementar (pt)
• Russian: выполня́ть (ru) (vypolnjátʹ), осуществля́ть (ru) (osuščestvljátʹ), реализо́вывать (ru) (realizóvyvatʹ), претворя́ть в жизнь (pretvorjátʹ v žiznʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: cuir an gnìomh
• Serbo-Croatian: realizirati (sh), ostvariti (sh), implementirati (sh)
• Spanish: implementar (es)
• Swahili: tekeleza (sw)
• Swedish: implementera (sv)
• Telugu: అమలుపరచు (te) (amaluparacu)
• Turkish: tatbik etmek (tr) (obsolescent), uygulamak (tr), yerine getirmek (tr)

Further reading

• “implement” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• “implement” in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.