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) (file) Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)t
Verb
impart (third-person singular simple present imparts, present participle imparting, simple past and past participle imparted)
- (transitive) To give or bestow (e.g. a quality or property).
- The sun imparts warmth.
- to impart food to the poor
- (transitive) To give a part or to share.
- Synonyms: bequeath, bestow, give; see also Thesaurus:give
- 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, line 440:
- Expressing well the spirit within thee [Adam] free, / My [God's] image, not imparted to the brute.
- (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 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
- Gentle lady, / When I did first impart my love to you.
- 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
- 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.
- (intransitive) To hold a conference or consultation.
- (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
communicate the knowledge of
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to hold a conference or consultation
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References
- “impart”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- “impart”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Chinese
Etymology
Hobson-Jobson of 淫 (yín, “lewd”) + 趴 (pā, “party”) into English impart.
Pronunciation
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