impregn

English

Etymology

From Middle French imprégner, from Old French enpreignier.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɹiːn/

Verb

impregn (third-person singular simple present impregns, present participle impregning, simple past and past participle impregned)

1. (now rare, poetic) To impregnate; to make fruitful.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     his perswasive words, impregn’d
     With Reason

   • 1642, Henry More, The Life of the Soul:

     Semele doth Bacchus bear / Impregned of Jove.

   • 1727, James Thomson, “Summer”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC:

     Th' unfruitful rock, itself impregn'd by thee,⁠ / In dark retirement forms the lucid stone.

Anagrams

• gripmen, perming