importune

See also: importuné

English

WOTD – 25 November 2011

Etymology

From Middle French importuner, from Medieval Latin importunari (“to make oneself troublesome”), from Latin importunus (“unfit, troublesome”), originally "having no harbor"

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪmpɔːˈtjuːn/, /ɪmˈpɔːtjuːn/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪmpɔɹˈtuːn/

Verb

importune (third-person singular simple present importunes, present participle importuning, simple past and past participle importuned)

1. To bother, trouble, irritate.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes, […], book II, printed at London: By Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:

     To deliberate, be it but in slight matters, doth importune me.

   • 1813, Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, Chapter 14

     But I will no longer importune my young cousin.

2. To harass with persistent requests.
   • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 2 scene 1

     You were kneel'd to, and importun'd otherwise / By all of us; […].

   • 1712, Jonathan Swift, The Conduct of the Allies, and of the late Ministry, in beginning and carrying on the present War

     Their ministers and residents here have perpetually importuned the court with unreasonable demands.

3. To approach to offer one's services as a prostitute, or otherwise make improper proposals.
4. (obsolete) To import; to signify.
   • (Can we date this quote by Spenser and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     It importunes death.

Translations

to harass with persistent requests

• Bulgarian: досаждам (bg) (dosaždam), натрапвам се (natrapvam se)
• Finnish: udella (fi) (for information), anella (fi) (for goods or services)
• Galician: importunar (gl), abafar (gl)
• German: bedrängen (de), belästigen (de)
• Maori: patete, unene

• Portuguese: importunar (pt), incomodar (pt)
• Russian: домога́ться (ru) (domogátʹsja), надоеда́ть (ru) (nadojedátʹ), приставать (ru) (pristavatʹ)
• Spanish: importunar (es)
• Swedish: besvära (sv)
• Turkish: sıkboğaz etmek, üstelemek (tr), dadanmak (tr)

to make improper proposals

• Bulgarian: предлагам се (predlagam se)
• Finnish: ahdistella (fi)

• Spanish: prostituirse (es)

Adjective

importune (comparative more importune, superlative most importune)

1. (obsolete) Grievous, severe, exacting.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.vi:

     And therewithall he fiercely at him flew, / And with importune outrage him assayld [...].

2. (obsolete) Inopportune; unseasonable.
3. (obsolete) Troublesome; vexatious; persistent.
   • (Can we date this quote by Spenser and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     And their importune fates all satisfied.

   • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Envy

     Of all other affections it [envy] is the most importune and continual.

Related terms

• importunate

Anagrams

• entropium

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French

Verb

importune

1. first-person singular present indicative of importuner
2. third-person singular present indicative of importuner
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of importuner
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of importuner
5. second-person singular imperative of importuner

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Italian

Adjective

importune f pl

1. feminine plural of importuno

Anagrams

• impunterò, premunito

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Latin

Adjective

importūne

1. vocative masculine singular of importūnus

References

• importune in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• importune in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• importune in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

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Portuguese

Verb

importune

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of importunar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of importunar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of importunar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of importunar

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Spanish

Verb

importune

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of importunar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of importunar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of importunar.