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: please add this translation if you can
• 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.

   • 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)
• 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.