▪ I. implant, v.
(ɪmˈplɑːnt, -ˈplænt)
Also 6 emplant.
[a. F. implanter to insert, engraft, etc. (also † emplanter to plant), f. im- (im-1) + planter to plant.]
1. a. trans. To plant in, insert, infix. Chiefly pass., To be set, fixed, or embedded in something, e.g. as a crystal in a matrix of another kind. Also refl.
| 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde 17 Before they emplant them self in the hedde of the stoone. 1578 Banister Hist. Man i. 15 The Opticke Sinew..is implanted into the middle of the eye. a 1705 Ray (J.), Another cartilage, capable of motion, by the help of some muscles that were implanted in it. 1811 Pinkerton Petral. I. 169 Patrinite sometimes occurs in globular masses, implanted in other rocks. 1831 R. Knox Cloquet's Anat. 75 The Teeth..are small bones..implanted in the alveoli of both jaws. |
b. Med. Surgically to place or insert (tissue, or something inorganic) in the body: used esp. when what is inserted does not correspond with what is naturally found at the site that receives it.
| 1886 W. D. Younger Implantation of Teeth 8, I have since tried implanting teeth which have been extracted for weeks and months. 1887 Lancet 12 Feb. 334/2 In his early attempts he used fresh teeth, which he obtained from other dentists..and endeavoured to keep alive by implanting them in cocks' combs. 1919 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 26 July 301/1 On the other hand, the pathologic opaque [corneal] graft, implanted in sound tissue, grows normal and in time becomes transparent. 1927 Lancet 15 Jan. 120/2 Animals not infrequently recover from tumours implanted into them. 1941 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 27 Sept. 1070/1 In January 1940 a 200 mg. tablet of testosterone was implanted. After another month, hair appeared on the upper lip..and the penis further increased in size. 1952 Brit. Jrnl. Radiol. XXV. 423/2 A method of implanting redioactive Ta182 wire for the treatment of patients with carcinoma of the bladder is described. 1963 Lancet 12 Jan. 78/1 The amnion was prepared and implanted by the method of Troensegaard-Hansen (1956). In 8 cases where symptoms were unilateral the implant was placed in the affected leg. 1964 Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. CXI. 1063 During the past 3 years the pacemaker has been implanted in 43 patients ranging in age from 39 to 85 years. |
2. a. To fix or instil (a principle, desire, opinion, etc.) in one. Chiefly pass.: To be firmly fixed or inherent in. (The ordinary use.)
| a 1541 Barnes Wks. (1573) 323/1 They are both inclinations of nature, implanted of God. 1605 Timme Quersit. i. ii. 6 The diuine vertue which God hath put and implanted in all creatures. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. II. 389 Gravity, attraction, repulsion..are not powers implanted in matter, or possible to be made inherent in it. 1820 Scott Abbot i, So deeply is the desire of offspring implanted in the female breast. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid iii. 249 Take these words of the prophet—implant them deep in your heart. |
† b. To engraft (a bud). Also fig.: cf. implantation 3. Obs. rare.
| 1660 Sharrock Vegetables 71 Till such time as the buds then implanted may be fast cemented. 1675 Brooks Gold. Key Wks. 1867 V. 30 Requiring men to be better Christians before they come to Christ, than commonly they prove after they are implanted into Christ. |
3. a. To set in the ground; to plant. Also fig.
| 1610 W. Folkingham Art of Survey i. iii. 6 It implies that either the ground is very fertile in generall, or that they are implanted in Plots Sympathizing with their Natures. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. xii. lxxx, Upon her cheek doth Beauties self implant The freshest garden of her choicest flowers. 1753 L. M. tr. Du Boscq's Accompl. Woman I. 180 Those [herbs] which the gardiner implanteth. 1845 Stephen Comm. Laws Eng. (1874) II. 215 Trees, while still implanted in the ground, are parcel of the freehold. 1868 Helps Realmah viii. (1876) 208 Had implanted the seeds of fatal disease. |
b. With inverted construction: To plant (ground, etc.) with something; to furnish with by insertion or implantation. Also fig.
| 1612–15 Bp. Hall Contempl., N.T. iv. xxxiii, Break up the fallowes of my nature, implant me with grace, prune mee with meet corrections. 1670 Milton Hist. Eng. iii. Wks. (1847) 503/2 Minds well implanted with solid and elaborate breeding. 1812 H. & J. Smith Horace in Lond. 121 Your heir..May fell your groves, implant the lawn. 1919 Lancet 29 Mar. 490/2 We are dealing with serum implanted with gas-gangrene bacilli. Ibid. 493/2 An agar surface implanted with a serophytic organism. 1956 Brit. Jrnl. Radiol. XXIX. 509/1 When the whole area..has been ‘implanted’ with the introducing needles, their stilettes are removed and tantalum wires..are passed down their lumina. 1968 Canad. Jrnl. Physics XLVI. 671/1 A silicon sample implanted at room temperature with As ions. 1971 Nature 18 June 454/2 Sprague-Dawley male albino rats were stereotaxically implanted..with stainless steel cannula systems for the injection of..various amines. |
4. intr. Embryol. To be or become implanted; to undergo implantation (sense 6).
| 1954 Contrib. Embryol. XXXV. 219/1 It appears..that the human blastocyst in the same stage of development implants earlier than that of the macaque. 1963 C. G. Hartman Mechanisms Conception vii. 349 After transfer to pseudopregnant hosts, the blastocysts implanted..with about the same frequency of success as blastocysts transferred without cultivation. 1967 Strong & Corney Placenta in Twin Pregnancy ii. 16 They may implant at adjacent sites so that the placentae in growing would fuse to form a dichorionic, but single placenta. 1970 Sci. Jrnl. June 48/1 Fertilization takes place in the Fallopian tube and some days later the fertilized egg implants into the lining of the uterus. |
Hence imˈplanting vbl. n. = implantation.
| 1597 Middleton in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) II. 536 Wisedomes haruest is with follie nipt..Her fruite all scattered, her implanting ript. 1620 Granger Div. Logike 49 The nighest end of Baptisme, is our implanting into the body of Christ. |
▪ II. implant, n.
(ˈɪmplɑːnt, -plænt)
[f. implant v.]
a. Anything implanted, esp. within the body.
| 1890 Sat. Rev. 15 Nov. 551/2 It seemed to tell of an ineradicable implant of commercial hypocrisy. 1911 Chem. Abstr. V. 2499 However, since after extirpation of these implants the hypersensitiveness persisted, it would seem that sessile receptors are not essential. 1919 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 26 July 301/1 A disk is cut from the opaque cornea and another from the transparent periphery, and the disks are transposed. The transparent implant being impermeable, like all autografts, becomes invaded by the abnormal elements surrounding it. 1952 Brit. Jrnl. Radiol. XXV. 421/1 A radon-seed implant has proved to be a useful method of treatment for early carcinoma of the bladder. 1961 J. N. Anderson Appl. Dental Materials (ed. 2) viii. 79 They [sc. chrome-cobalt alloys] can..be used as an ‘implant’ beneath the gum to which a denture may be fastened. 1963 [see implant v. 1 b]. 1968 New Scientist 11 Jan. 80/1 In recent years surgeons have been fitting an increasing number of implants to fix and repair damaged bones. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 242/1 Radium implants for radiation therapy. 1968 Canad. Jrnl. Physics XLVI. 667/1 Since the implanted atoms are confined to a surface region less than 0·1 µ thick, a well-defined ‘impurity’ peak is observed in the scattering spectra. [Note] In the case of phosphorus implants..the mass difference between P and Si is too small for the ‘impurity’ peak to be resolved. |
b. An act or operation of implanting something; an implantation.
| 1941 Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 27 Sept. 1069/1 Our more recent multiple 50 mg. pellet implants were performed with a trocar. 1970 Times 28 Apr. 5/4 French doctors today made the world's first implant of an atomic powered heart simulator into a human being. |