Scott Pendleton
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Imbue Has Old French Roots
Like its synonym infuse, imbue implies the introduction of one thing into another so as to affect it throughout. Someone's voice can be imbued with pride, for example, or a photograph might be imbued with a sense of melancholy. In the past imbue has also been used synonymously with imbrue, an obscure word meaning “to drench or stain,” but the two words are likely unrelated. Imbue comes from the Latin verb imbuere, meaning “to dye, wet, or moisten.” Imbrue has been traced back through Anglo-French and Old French to the Latin verb bibere, meaning “to drink.”
Synonyms
Examples of imbue in a Sentence
Adam Mansuroglu, WWD, 18 Nov. 2024
Watson imbues Valya with the warmth of gazpacho and the charm of a cursed porcelain doll.
—Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 18 Nov. 2024
These huge wood structures, found in the Giant Forest, imbue their surroundings with a mystical spirit.
—Killian Baarlaer, The Courier-Journal, 14 Nov. 2024
These worldviews imbue life with meaning, values, and purpose.
—Discover Magazine, 8 Nov. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near imbue
Cite this Entry
“Imbue.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/imbue. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
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imbue
verb
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