importune

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   beg persistently and urgently

   I importune you to help them.

2. 2
   verb

   To bother, irritate, trouble.

   To deliberate, be it but in slight matters, doth importune me.

3. 3
   verb

   To import; to signify.

   It importunes death.

4. 4
   adj

   Troublesome; vexatious; persistent.

   And their importune fates all satisfide.

Simplified etymology

Importune is historically connected with Latin portus, “harbour,” and with Portunus, the god who protected harbours. The word reflects a lack of the safety and calm associated with his protection.

From Middle French importuner and its etymon Medieval Latin importūnor (“to make oneself troublesome”), from Latin importūnus (“unfit, troublesome”), originally "having no harbor".

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
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