impregnate
Americanverb (used with object)
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impregnates,
present (3rd person singular)
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impregnated,
past participle, past
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impregnating
present participle
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to make pregnant; cause to be with child or young.
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to fertilize.
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to cause to be permeated or saturated with a substance.
To relieve cold and flu symptoms, impregnate a handkerchief with oils of eucalyptus and mint and inhale its scent.
-
to fill the interstices, openings, or cells of (a fine network, or the like) with a substance.
The stainless steel housing contains a ceramic honeycomb impregnated with platinum, rhodium, and palladium.
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to infuse or imbue with some quality or element.
Picasso’s later paintings are impregnated with a certain melancholy.
The air was pleasantly impregnated with the odor of pines.
adjective
verb
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to saturate, soak, or infuse
to impregnate a cloth with detergent
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to imbue or permeate; pervade
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to cause to conceive; make pregnant
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to fertilize (an ovum)
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to make (land, soil, etc) fruitful
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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impregnationnoun
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impregnatornoun
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reimpregnationnoun
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self-impregnationnoun
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self-impregnatornoun
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reimpregnateverb (used with object)
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impregnatoryadjective
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self-impregnatingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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impregnatesimple
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impregnatessimple
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have impregnatedperfect
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has impregnatedperfect
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am impregnatingprogressive
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are impregnatingprogressive
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is impregnatingprogressive
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have been impregnatingperfect progressive
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has been impregnatingperfect progressive
Past
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impregnatedsimple
-
had impregnatedperfect
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was impregnatingprogressive
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were impregnatingprogressive
-
had been impregnatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of impregnate
First recorded in 1535–45; from Late Latin impraegnātus, past participle of impraegnāre “to fertilize, impregnate,” equivalent to im- im- 1 ( def. ) + praegn-, stem of praegnās, variant of praegnāns (stem praegnant-) “pregnant, with child” + -ātus past participle suffix; see origin at pregnant 1 ( def. ), -ate 1 ( def. )
Explanation
Use the verb impregnate to describe what happens when a male of any animal species makes a female pregnant. Human fathers impregnate mothers — otherwise, they would not become fathers. When dog breeders mate two German shepherds, they hope that the male will impregnate the female, or make her pregnant. When your cat has kittens, it's because the neighbor's cat impregnated her several months earlier. The Latin root, impraegnare, comes from in, "into," and praegnare, "pregnant."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Noah is extraordinary because he’s also a Manhunter, created by the alien technology Zoe used to impregnate Kerry.
From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026
Male jewel beetles, having evolved to respond to the exciting sight, are known to mistake orange peels for potential mates and die in a fruitless attempt to impregnate them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
When the cow reached maturity, the team unsuccessfully attempted to impregnate her using standard artificial insemination techniques.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 13, 2024
Female sea horses utilize a protruding egg duct to essentially impregnate the male sea horse with her eggs, which he fertilizes and eventually births.
From New York Times ● Jan. 10, 2023
He ran tape through the charger to impregnate electronic setting that would guide the ship on its course to Crystal City.
From Master of the Moondog by Stanley Mullen
Some of the plot elements are similar: In Raising Gazorpazorp, Morty grapples with becoming a single father after he accidentally impregnates an alien robot.
From Time ● Jul. 27, 2017
This forced feeding thoroughly impregnates the cotton in the fuel chamber of the lighter, minimizes evaporation, and yet permits Lyterlife to feed into the wick as readily as a liquid.
From Time Magazine Archive
When eaten, the cysts are destroyed by the digestive juices, and in two or three days the adult worm develops; the male impregnates the female and then dies.
From Time Magazine Archive
To her it was a supreme sacrament administered in a sacred chamber whence had been shut out all the evil which impregnates the heart of man.
From Captain Macedoine's Daughter by William McFee
Seeing that purity of atmosphere in these apartments is of so vital importance, the method of artificial lighting adopted should not be such as impregnates the air with obnoxious and harmful, if unnoticeable, fumes.
From The Turkish Bath Its Design and Construction by Robert Owen Allsop
“The inmate Carroll impregnated is not one of the two victims in this case,” Assistant District Attorney Eric DuTemple said in an email this week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
So in January 2022, when veterinary scans showed 25% of his impregnated ewes were no longer carrying lambs, he began to investigate.
From BBC ● May 10, 2025
While the cow is milking, she is impregnated.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2024
The maggots arrived at her doctor’s office impregnated in a gauze pad.
From Slate ● Feb. 25, 2024
“My body became highly impregnated with the contagion. My eyes were yellow, and sometimes a yellowness was perceptible in my face,” he noted.
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
In an Instagram preview to the interview that was posted this week, Tasha K’s edited caption read, “We never accused him of impregnating another woman.. it was only cheating‼️”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 27, 2023
Writing in a paper in 1772, the scientist Joseph Priestly described the process as "impregnating water with fixed air".
From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2022
“They go against an innocent creature, and why not against the person who impregnated her? Where is that person? He’s going to continue impregnating girls.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 7, 2022
Extant, which premieres Wednesday night, tosses sci-fi films from 2001 to A.I. to Sunshine in a blender, and serves up a psychologically minded speculative smoothie, complete with impregnating aliens, emotional robots, and vast conspiracies.
From Slate ● Jul. 9, 2014
A metallic substance is produced out of 'earth' when a metallic juice impregnating the 'earth' solidifies with cold, the 'earth' not being changed.
From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Georgius Agricola
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