imbue

[im-byoo]

See more synonyms for imbue on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), im·bued, im·bu·ing.

to impregnate or inspire, as with feelings, opinions, etc.: The new political leader was imbued with the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.
to saturate or impregnate with moisture, color, etc.
to imbrue.

Origin of imbue

First recorded in 1545–55, imbue is from the Latin word imbuere to wet, drench

Related formsim·bue·ment, nounpre·im·bue, verb (used with object), pre·im·bued, pre·im·bu·ing.un·im·bued, adjective

Can be confusedimbrue imbue

Synonyms for imbue

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1. charge, infect, fire. 2. permeate, infuse, tincture, soak.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for imbues

permeate, ingrain, suffuse, inculcate, pervade, leaven, steep, instill, bathe, impregnate, invest, inoculate, infix, diffuse

Examples from the Web for imbues

Contemporary Examples of imbues

And this imbues Europeans with a sense of moral superiority, meaning that we the Europeans are the moral avant-garde.
Sunday Q&A: Josef Joffe on the Myth of American Decline
Michael Moynihan
November 17, 2013
Patinkin imbues Saul with a hulking presence that fills entire rooms.
Give Mandy Patinkin an Emmy Nomination for ‘Homeland,’ Already!
Jason Lynch
July 17, 2013
Instead, he imbues his work with a brooding melancholy, while maintaining both its dignity and elegance.
Paris Fashion Week Kicks Off
Robin Givhan
October 1, 2011
It imbues them with the power to create worlds and minimizes the time that they must spend with actual mortal actors.
James Cameron's Titanic Gamble
Kim Masters
November 28, 2009

Historical Examples of imbues

In Diodorus Aphrodite, enraged by a maiden, Derceto, imbues her with a fierce passion for a youth.
The History of Antiquity, Vol. II (of VI)
Max Duncker
A Russian imbues his polite things with a heartiness, both of phrase and expression, that compels belief in their sincerity.
The Innocents Abroad
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
To what shall I liken its glorious perfection of form, or the fire that imbues the cold marble with the soul of a god?
With the World's Great Travellers, Volume IV
Various
The minister can render a service when he imbues his people with the highest ideals of business morality.
Church Cooperation in Community Life
Paul L. Vogt
It imbues all classes with a respect for the thing judged, and with the notion of right.
American Institutions and Their Influence
Alexis de Tocqueville et al.

British Dictionary definitions for imbues

imbue

verb -bues, -buing or -bued (tr usually foll by with)

to instil or inspire (with ideals, principles, etc)his sermons were imbued with the spirit of the Reformation
rare to soak, esp with moisture, dye, etc

Derived Formsimbuement, noun

Word Origin for imbue

C16: from Latin imbuere to stain, accustom

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for imbues

imbue

early 15c., "to keep wet; to soak, saturate;" also figuratively "to cause to absorb" (feelings, opinions, etc.), from Latin imbuere "moisten," of uncertain origin, perhaps from the same root as imbrication. Cf. also Old French embu, past participle of emboivre, from Latin imbibere "drink in, soak in" (see imbibe), which might have influenced the English word. Related: Imbued; imbuing.