Where does “importune” come from?
Importune comes from Middle French importuner, from Latin importunari, derived from the adjective importunus, composed of the prefix in- and importunus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ne.
importune (English): To bother, trouble, irritate; To harass with...
Definitions
- To bother, trouble, irritate; To harass with...
Ancestry of “importune”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle French | importuner | to bother |
| 2 | Latin | importunari | to make oneself troublesome |
| 3 | Latin | importunus | inconvenient, unsuitable; annoying; rude |
| 4 | Latin | in- | un-, non-, not; in, within, inside |
| 5 | Latin | in | in, at, on, upon, from; within, while in; into,... |
| 6 | Old Latin | en | in |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |
Words derived from “importune”