impale

[im-peyl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR impale ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), im·paled, im·pal·ing.

to fasten, stick, or fix upon a sharpened stake or the like.

to pierce with a sharpened stake thrust up through the body, as for torture or punishment.

to fix upon, or pierce through with, anything pointed.

to make helpless as if pierced through.

Archaic. to enclose with or as if with pales or stakes; fence in; hem in.

Heraldry.

to marshal (two coats of arms, as the family arms of a husband and wife) on an escutcheon party per pale.
(of a coat of arms) to be combined with (another coat of arms) in this way.

Also empale (for defs 1–5).

Origin of impale

1545–55; < Medieval Latin impālāre, equivalent to Latin im- im-¹ + pāl(us) pale² + -ā- thematic vowel + -re infinitive ending

Related formsim·pal·er, nounim·pale·ment, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for impalement

persecution, suffering, torment, misery, laceration, distress, martyrdom, agony, dolor, twinge, pang, affliction, ache, crucifixion, anguish, rack, tribulation, excruciation, impalement, hit

Examples from the Web for impalement

Historical Examples of impalement

Since the marriage of Alroy, there had never been such a merry morn as the day of his impalement.
Alroy
Benjamin Disraeli
And he gave orders that he should be put to death by impalement next morning.
The Kath Sarit Sgara
Somadeva Bhatta
Chiefest of all, the impalement of the old Raimondi on Marta's knife.
A Likely Story
William De Morgan
But impalement as we now know it was preceded by dimidiation.
A Complete Guide to Heraldry
Arthur Charles Fox-Davies
Some are said to have survived their impalement as much as forty-eight hours.
Herzegovina
George Arbuthnot

British Dictionary definitions for impalement

impale

empale

verb (tr)

(often foll by on, upon, or with) to pierce with a sharp instrumentthey impaled his severed head on a spear

archaic to enclose with pales or fencing; fence in

heraldry to charge (a shield) with two coats of arms placed side by side

Derived Formsimpalement or empalement, nounimpaler or empaler, noun

Word Origin for impale

C16: from Medieval Latin impālāre, from Latin im- (in) + pālus pale ²

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 impalement

1590s, from French empalement, from empaler (see impale).

impale

1520s, "to enclose with stakes, fence in," from Middle French empaler and directly from Medieval Latin impalare "to push onto a stake," from assimilated form of in- "into, in" (see in- (2)) + Latin palus "a stake, prop, stay; wooden post, pole," from PIE *pak-slo-, from root *pag-/*pak- "to fasten" (see pact). Sense of "pierce with a pointed stake" (as torture or punishment) first recorded 1610s. Related: Impaled; impaling.