impregnate
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]The adjective is first attested in 1540, the verb in 1605; borrowed from Medieval Latin impraegnātus, perfect passive participle of Latin impraegnō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix). Doublet of impregn; participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.
Pronunciation
[edit]- Verb
- IPA(key): /ˈɪmpɹɛɡneɪt/, /ɪmˈpɹɛɡneɪt/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- Adjective
Verb
[edit]impregnate (third-person singular simple present impregnates, present participle impregnating, simple past and past participle impregnated)
- (transitive) To cause to become pregnant.
- Synonyms: knock up, inseminate, (of animals) cover
- I was impregnated at a clinic but don't know who the sperm donor is.
- 1903 [1901], Maurice Maeterlinck, translated by Alfred Sutro, The Life of the Bee, New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company, page 264:
- The queen at their head, the representative of the future, has not yet been impregnated. Their entire destiny depends on the ensuing nuptial flight.
- (transitive) To fertilize.
- (transitive) To saturate, or infuse.
- 1791, John Walker, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary […] [1], London: Sold by G. G. J. and J. Robinſon, Paternoſter Row; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, →OCLC, page 498:
- To Tartarize, ta²r'ta⁴r-i¹ze, v. a.
To impregnate with tartar.
- 1835, Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology […] , 4th edition, volume III, London: John Murray, Book IV, page 322:
- We find those charæ which secrete the largest quantity of calcareous matter in their stems to abound near springs impregnated with carbonate of lime.
- (transitive) To fill pores or spaces with a substance.
- 1937, Hugh Bertie Campbell Pollard, The mystery of scent, page 121:
- It takes a little time for the personal fatty acids to impregnate new shoes or boots, but from the scent point of view leather is a sponge, and the personal scent is left.
- (intransitive, dated) To become pregnant.
- 2025 April 27 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “SUNDAY, April 16, 2025”, in The Spectator, number (please specify the issue number); republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume (please either specify the issue number or |volume=I to VI), New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
- Were they, like Spanish Jennets, to impregnate by the Wind, they could not have thought on a more proper Invention.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]to cause to become pregnant
to cause to become pregnant in case of animals
|
to add nutrients — see fertilize
to saturate, to infuse
|
to fill pores or spaces with a substance
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
|
Adjective
[edit]impregnate (comparative more impregnate, superlative most impregnate) (rare, obsolete)
- (as a participle) Impregnated (all senses).
- Pregnant, with child.
- (figuratively) Rendered fruitful, prolific.
- Imbued, saturated, permeated or filled with.
- 1715-20, Alexander Pope, The Iliad of Homer, book V. v.968:
- There Juno stopped, and, her fair steeds unloosed,
Of air condensed a vapour circumfused:
For these, impregnate with celestial dew,
On Simoïs' brink ambrosial herbage grew.
- (mistakenly) Impregnable.
See also
[edit]Anagrams
[edit]Esperanto
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Verb
[edit]impregnate
- present adverbial passive participle of impregni
Ido
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Verb
[edit]impregnate
- adverbial present passive participle of impregnar
Italian
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
[edit]impregnàte
- inflection of impregnare:
Etymology 2
[edit]See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Participle
[edit]impregnàte f pl
Anagrams
[edit]Spanish
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Verb
[edit]impregnate
- second-person singular voseo imperative of impregnar combined with te
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Medieval Latin
- English terms derived from Medieval Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms suffixed with -ate (verb)
- English terms suffixed with -ate (adjective)
- English doublets
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English intransitive verbs
- English dated terms
- English adjectives
- English rare terms
- English obsolete terms
- Esperanto 4-syllable words
- Esperanto terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Esperanto/ate
- Esperanto non-lemma forms
- Esperanto verb forms
- Esperanto adverbial participles
- Ido terms with IPA pronunciation
- Ido non-lemma forms
- Ido verb forms
- Italian 4-syllable words
- Italian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Italian/ate
- Rhymes:Italian/ate/4 syllables
- Italian non-lemma forms
- Italian verb forms
- Italian past participle forms
- Spanish 4-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/ate
- Rhymes:Spanish/ate/4 syllables
- Spanish non-lemma forms
- Spanish verb forms