imbue, v.
(ɪmˈbjuː)
Also 6–7 imbew.
[Found c 1550; ad. L. imbuĕre to wet, moisten, tinge, stain, imbrue, imbue. In earlier examples only in the pa. pple. imbued, answering to the L. pa. pple. imbūt-us, but prob. influenced by the synonymous F. imbu (found from 16th c.), now treated as pa. pple. of a vb. imboire (refashioned from OF. emboire, pa. pple. embeü, embehu, embu), but, as shown by the early forms imbut (1507 in Hatz.-Darm.), imbuit (c 1530 in Godefroy Compl.), prob., in its origin, ad. L. imbūtus. There was also F. imbuer, pa. pple. imbué, in occas. use 1560–1600.
1755 Johnson, Imbue,..this word, which seems wanted in our language, has been proposed by several writers, but not yet adopted by the rest.]
1. trans. To saturate, wet thoroughly (with moisture); to dye, tinge, impregnate (with colour or some physical quality).
| 1594 Carew Tasso (1881) 72 Ornes and Ceders with sweete sent imbewd. ― Huarte's Exam. Wits (1616) 198 They had their bones, their sinewes, and their flesh, so imbewed with Manna and his qualities, that..they longed after nothing else. 1663 Boyle Exper. Hist. Colours iii. xlviii. §6 Copper plentifully dissolved in aqua fortis, will imbue several bodies with the colour of the solution. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Sallet, It is incredible how small a Quantity of Oil in this Quality will suffice to imbue a very plentiful Quantity of Sallet-Herbs. 1818 Wordsw. On Even. extraord. Beauty ii, Beamy radiance, that imbues Whate'er it strikes with gem-like hues. 1818 Byron Ch. Har. iv. xxix, Parting day Dies like the dolphin, whom each pang imbues With a new colour as it gasps away. c 1878 Oxford Bible-Helps 255 Cere-cloth, imbued with unguents and spices. |
b. To imbrue (with blood).
| 1850 Merivale Rom. Emp. (1852) II. 355 The refractory legions imbued with the blood of their officers. 1874 Holland Mistr. Manse xx. 210 Hands in kindred blood imbued. |
2. To impregnate, permeate, pervade, or inspire (with opinions, feelings, habits, etc.).
| 1555 Eden Decades 168 The nations seeme apte..to be imbued with good maners. 1591 Spenser Ruines Rome xxiv, What fell Erynnis with hot burning tongs, Did grype your hearts with noysome rage imbew'd? 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 216 Thy words with Grace Divine Imbu'd. 1736 Berkeley Disc. to Magistrates Wks. III. 415 To imbue the multitude with such notions as may control their appetites. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. Ser. ii. v. (1869) 118 He is so thoroughly imbued with the spirit of his authors. 1865 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. x. (1875) 419 How deeply the prejudices of the multitude imbued the educated class also. |
Hence imˈbuement, the action of imbuing, the fact of being imbued.
| a 1693 Urquhart Rabelais iii. xiii. 101 An Imbuement from its Divine Source. 1864 in Webster. |