impose

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See also: imposé

English[edit]

WOTD – 14 May 2024

Etymology[edit]

PIE word
*h₁én
PIE word
*h₂epó

The verb is derived from Late Middle English imposen (“to place, set; to impose (a duty, etc.)”),[1] borrowed from Middle French imposer, and Old French emposer, enposer (“to impose (a duty, tax, etc.)”) (modern French imposer), from im-, em- (variants of en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’)) + poser (“to place, put”), modelled after:[2]

The noun is derived from the verb.[4]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

impose (third-person singular simple present imposes, present participle imposing, simple past and past participle imposed)

  1. (transitive)
    1. (archaic) To physically lay or place (something) on another thing; to deposit, to put, to set.
      1. (Christianity) To lay or place (one's hands) on someone as a blessing, during rites of confirmation, ordination, etc.
      2. (printing) To lay (columns or pages of type, or printing plates) arranged in a proper order on the bed of a press or an imposing stone and secure them in a chase in preparation for printing.
    2. (figurative)
      1. To apply, enforce, or establish (something, often regarded as burdensome as a restriction or tax: see sense 1.2.2) with authority.
        Congress imposed new tariffs.
        Sanctions were imposed on the country that had made an unprovoked attack on its neighbour.
      3. To place or put (something chiefly immaterial, especially something regarded as burdensome as a duty, an encumbrance, a penalty, etc.) on another thing or on someone; to inflict, to repose; also, to place or put (on someone a chiefly immaterial thing, especially something regarded as burdensome).
        Social relations impose courtesy.
        • 1948 October 27 (date delivered), Harry Truman, “Address at Mechanics Hall in Boston”, in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman: Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President: January 1 to December 31, 1948, Washington, D.C.: Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration, General Services Administration; United States Government Printing Office, published 1964, →OCLC, page 884, column 1:
          [W]e don't want any Communist government in the United States of America. And if the people of other countries don't want communism, we don't want to see it imposed upon them against their will.
        • 1950 March, H. A. Vallance, “On Foot Across the Forth Bridge”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 149:
          Detailed records are kept of the strains imposed on the bridge by the violent gales that frequently sweep the firth, and a self-recording wind gauge is fixed on the top of the tower.
        • 1975 February 11, Marian Christy, quoting Suzy Chaffee, “Suzy Chaffee‘s choice on nude photos”, in Boston Evening Globe (Living section), final edition, volume 207, number 42, Boston, Mass.: The Globe Newspaper Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 25, column 5:
          It's foolish for society to impose the restriction of one man to the married woman. I'm not advocating sexual promiscuity but I think it's possible for a woman to have many kinds of relationships with many men and that shouldn't affect the status of the marriage. The husband, in turn, should have the same freedoms.
        • 2011 December 10, Arindam Rej, “Norwich 4 – 2 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport‎[2], archived from the original on 2023-03-12:
          Norwich soon began imposing themselves on that patched-up defence with [Grant] Holt having their best early chance, only to see it blocked by [Danny] Simpson.
      4. To force or put (a thing) on someone or something by deceit or stealth; to foist, to obtrude.
      5. (UK, school or university slang) To subject (a student) to imposition (“a task inflicted as punishment”).
      6. (archaic or obsolete) To appoint (someone) to be in authority or command over other people.
      7. (obsolete) To accuse someone of (a crime, or a sin or other wrongdoing); to charge, to impute.
      8. (obsolete) To put (a conclusion or end) to something definitively.
  2. (intransitive) Chiefly followed by on or upon.
    1. To affect authoritatively or forcefully; to influence strongly.
    2. To encroach or intrude, especially in a manner regarded as unfair or unwarranted; to presume, to take advantage of; also, to be a burden or inconvenience.
      I don’t wish to impose upon you.
      • 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XI, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 129:
        Your character was unfolded in the recital which I received many months ago from Mr. Wickham. On this subject, what can you have to say? In what imaginary act of friendship can you here defend yourself? or under what misrepresentation can you here impose upon others?"
      • 2022 January 12, Joseph Brennan, “Castles: Ruined and Redeemed by Rail”, in Rail, number 948, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 57:
        In the same year as the Furness objection, sadder tidings befell St Pancras Priory at Lewes, in East Sussex. Despite it having the distinction of being the earliest Cluniac monastery in Great Britain, petitions to prevent the Brighton Lewes & Hastings Railway from imposing on its site with its Lewes line failed. The line was approved and, as if as an act of deliberate desecration and assertion of the railways' power, passed over the site of the high altar.
    3. To practise deceit or stealth; to cheat, to deceive, to trick.
    4. (obsolete) To subject to a levy, tax, etc.

Conjugation[edit]

Conjugation of impose
infinitive (to) impose
present tense past tense
1st-person singular impose imposed
2nd-person singular impose, imposest† imposed, imposedst†
3rd-person singular imposes, imposeth† imposed
plural impose
subjunctive impose imposed
imperative impose —
participles imposing imposed

†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

to physically lay or place (something) on another thing — see deposit,‎ put,‎ set
to force or put (a thing) on someone or something by deceit or stealth — see foist,‎ obtrude
to encroach or intrude, especially in a manner regarded as unfair or unwarranted — see encroach,‎ intrude
to presume, to take advantage of — see presume,‎ take advantage of
to practise deceit or stealth — see cheat,‎ deceive,‎ trick

Noun[edit]

impose (plural imposes)

  1. (obsolete) An act of placing or putting on something chiefly immaterial, especially something regarded as burdensome as a duty, a task, etc.; an imposition.

References[edit]

  1. ^ “impōsen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “impose, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “impose, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2023.
  4. ^ “† impose, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2023.

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

impose

  1. inflection of imposer:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Italian[edit]

Verb[edit]

impose

  1. third-person singular past historic of imporre
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