imbue

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ɪmˈbju/ UK /ɪmˈbjuː/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to fill or inspire thoroughly with a feeling or quality

The teacher sought to imbue her students with curiosity.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to fill or inspire... infuse permeate saturate suffuse instill steep pervade

Opposites

drain deprive

Word family

Derived forms imbuedimbuingimbuement

Related forms imbibe

Etymology

From Latin imbuere ('to wet, saturate, stain, instruct'), of uncertain origin but possibly related to bibere ('to drink').

imbuere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# imbue

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ɪmˈbju/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪmˈbjuː/

## Meanings
1. to fill or inspire thoroughly with a feeling or quality

## Examples
- The teacher sought to imbue her students with curiosity.

## Synonyms
- infuse
- permeate
- saturate
- suffuse
- instill
- steep
- pervade

## Antonyms
- drain
- deprive

## Derived Forms
- imbued
- imbuing
- imbuement

## Related Forms
- imbibe

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: imbuere

## Etymology
From Latin imbuere ('to wet, saturate, stain, instruct'), of uncertain origin but possibly related to bibere ('to drink').

## AI Etymology
imbue comes from Latin imbuere ('to wet, saturate, stain, instruct'), of uncertain origin but possibly related to bibere ('to drink'). The path is chiefly one of transmission: the word passes through the named languages and forms, with each stage preserving part of the modern shape. The etymology remains cautious where the history is cautious: comparisons, echoic formation, or disputed derivation do not make the ancestry more definite than the forms actually named. In present English, the verb sense is "to fill or inspire thoroughly with a feeling or quality", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as imbibe, and in derivatives such as imbued, imbuing, and imbuement. Its semantic neighborhood includes infuse, permeate, saturate, and suffuse, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin imbuere.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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