impart

See also: împart

English

WOTD – 24 March 2008

Etymology

From Middle English imparten, borrowed from Middle French impartir, empartir, from Late Latin impartiō, impertiō, from im- (“in”) + Latin partiō (“divide”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɑːt/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɑɹt/

  • Audio (California):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpaːt/

  • Audio (Queensland):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)t

Verb

impart (third-person singular simple present imparts, present participle imparting, simple past and past participle imparted)

1. (transitive) To give or bestow (e.g. a quality or property).

   The sun imparts warmth.

   to impart food to the poor

   • 1952 July, W. R. Watson, “Sankey Viaduct and Embankment”, in Railway Magazine, page 487:

     He describes the operation thus: "The heavy ram employed to impart the finishing strokes, hoisted up with double purchase and snail's pace to the summit of the Piling Engine, and then falling down like a thunderbolt on the head of the devoted timber, driving it perhaps a single half inch in to the stratum below, is well calculated to put to the test the virtue of patience, while it illustrates the old adage of—slow and sure."

   • 2021 March 31, Melissa Chen, “Opinion ‘Kung Fu Cavemen’ isn’t racist — just the victim of moral panic by a self-righteous few”, in New York Post‎:

     Along the way, they meet Master Wong, who teaches them kung fu and imparts nuggets of Chinese philosophy, knowledge and training that they eventually use to defeat their nemesis and save their village.

2. (transitive) To give a part or to share.

   Synonyms: bequeath, bestow, give; see also Thesaurus:give

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, 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, line 440:

     Expressing well the spirit within thee [Adam] free, / My [God's] image, not imparted to the brute.

   • 1907, Charles Henry Vine, The Old Faith and the New Theology‎:

     Did not Mazzini impart his spirit to divided Italy, and make her one?

   • 2002, John Pym, Time Out Film Guide‎, page 202:

     Cary Grant imparts his ineffable charm, Kennedy (with metal hand) provides comic brutality, while Hepburn is elegantly fraught.

3. (transitive) To make known; to show (by speech, writing etc.).

   Synonyms: disclose, tell; see also Thesaurus:announce, Thesaurus:inform

   • 1662, John Dryden, letter to Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon:

     Well may he then to you his cares impart.

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

     Gentle lady, / When I did first impart my love to you.

   • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

     The departure was not unduly prolonged. […] Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments on the subject of Divine Intention in the disposition of buckets; farewells and last commiserations; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity.

4. (intransitive) To hold a conference or consultation.
5. (transitive) To obtain a share of; to partake of.
   • c. 1587, Anthony Munday, John a Kent and John a Cumber:

     Sweet Cossen, what we may not now impart, heere let vs bury it, closely in our hart

Derived terms

• impartable
• impartation
• imparter
• impartible
• impartment
• reimpart
• unimparted

Translations

to give a part or share

Bulgarian: придавам (bg) (pridavam) Catalan: impartir (ca) Dutch: delen (nl), verdelen (nl) German: weitergeben (de), gewähren (de) Greek: δίνω (el) (díno) Italian: impartire (it) Korean: 전하다 (ko) (jeonhada) Polish: przydzielać (pl) impf, przydzielić (pl) pf Romanian: împărți (ro) Russian: дава́ть (ru) (davátʹ), придава́ть (ru) (pridavátʹ) Sanskrit: ददाति (sa) (dadāti)

communicate the knowledge of

Bulgarian: съобщавам (bg) (sǎobštavam) Dutch: mededelen (nl), communiceren (nl) Esperanto: sciigi French: donner (fr), communiquer (fr), transmettre (fr) German: mitteilen (de), vermitteln (de), weitergeben (de) Greek: μεταδίδω (el) (metadído) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: ڕاگەیاندن (rageyandin) Maori: whakamōhio, whakaatu, whakaako Polish: dzielić się impf, podzielić się pf, udzielać (pl) impf, udzielić (pl) pf, przekazywać (pl) impf, przekazać (pl) pf Portuguese: comunicar (pt), passar (pt) Russian: сообща́ть (ru) (soobščátʹ) Spanish: impartir (es)

to hold a conference or consultation

Dutch: beraadslagen (nl), vergaderen (nl) Maori: matapaki, kōrerorero Polish: organizować konferencję impf, zorganizować konferencję pf

References

• “impart”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “impart”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Primat, arm pit, armpit

Chinese

Etymology

Hobson-Jobson of 淫 (yín, “lewd”) +‎ 趴 (pā, “party”) into English impart.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yínpā

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄣˊ ㄆㄚ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yínpā
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄣˊ ㄆㄚ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yínpa
    • Wade–Giles: yin²-pʻa¹
    • Yale: yín-pā
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ynpa
    • Palladius: иньпа (inʹpa)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /in³⁵ pʰä⁵⁵/

Noun

impart

1. (Mainland China Mandarin, neologism, text messaging, Internet slang) sex party

   開impart／开impart  ―  kāi impart  ―  to have a sex party

   開impart不帶我是吧？／开impart不带我是吧？  ―  Kāi impart bù dài wǒ shì ba?  ―  You're going to have sex parties without me, huh?