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impair
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English impairen, empeiren, from Old French empeirier, from Early Medieval Latin impeiōrāre, from in- + Late Latin peiōrāre (“worsen”), from peiōrem (“worse”), comparative of malus (“bad”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɪmˈpɛə(ɹ)/, /ɪmˈpɛː(ɹ)/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- (US) IPA(key): /ɪmˈpɛɹ/
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /ɪmˈpeə(ɹ)/, /ɪmˈpeː(ɹ)/
- Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
Verb
impair (third-person singular simple present impairs, present participle impairing, simple past and past participle impaired)
- (transitive) To weaken; to affect negatively; to have a diminishing effect on.
- (intransitive, archaic) To grow worse; to deteriorate.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- Flesh may empaire, […] but reason can repaire.
Synonyms
- See Thesaurus:hinder
Derived terms
Translations
have a diminishing effect on
Adjective
impair (comparative more impair, superlative most impair)
- (obsolete) Not fit or appropriate; unsuitable.
- c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:
- giues he not till iudgement guide his bounty, / Nor dignifies an impaire thought with breath:
Noun
impair (plural impair or impairs)
- (obsolete) The act of impairing or deteriorating.
- (obsolete) The fact of being impaired or having grown worse.
- (obsolete) An impairment or deterioration.
- 1671, Thomas Watson, The Beatitudes, pages 146–147:
- Suppoſe a mans credit ſhould ſuffer an impair with thoſe whoſe cenſure is not to be valued; yet think, which is worſe, ſhame or ſin? Wilt thou ſin againſt God to ſave thy credit?
Further reading
- “impair”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “impair”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
- “impair”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
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French
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin impār. By surface analysis, im- + pair.
Pronunciation
Adjective
impair (feminine impaire, masculine plural impairs, feminine plural impaires)
- (arithmetic) odd (not divisible by two)
- Antonym: pair
- nombre impair ― odd number
- 3 est un nombre impair. ― 3 is an odd number.
- (mathematical analysis) odd
- Antonym: pair
- fonction impaire ― odd function
Noun
impair m (plural impairs)
- (informal) blunder
- Synonyms: faux pas, maladresse
- commettre un impair ― to make a blunder
Further reading
- “impair”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
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