Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “impose” come from?

Impose comes from Middle French imposer, from Latin imponere, combining the prefix in- with ponere, ultimately tracing to Proto-Indo-European ne.

impose (English): To establish or apply by authority; to be an...

Definitions

  1. To establish or apply by authority; to be an...

Ancestry of “impose”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishimposen—
2Middle Frenchimposerto lay on, impose
3Latinimponeresecond-person singular future passive indicative...
4LatinimponoI place on or upon, set upon, lay upon; I impose...
5Latinim-Alternative form of in-; form of "in"; in
6Latinīn-—
7Latinîn—
8Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
9Proto-Italicenin
10Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin

Words derived from “impose”

  • imposing
  • superimpose
  • imposingly
  • reimpose
  • unimposing
  • imposer
  • superimposable
  • nonsuperimposable
  • imposeth
  • imposingness
  • superimposability
  • imposest
  • unimposingly
  • overimpose
  • imposement
  • unimposingness
  • reimposer
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én →