importune en · VERB · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /ɪmˈpɔːtjuːn/ (UK)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ɪmpɔɹˈtuːn/ (US)
- /ɪmpɔːˈtjuːn/ (UK)
Etymology
From Middle French importuner and its etymon Medieval Latin importūnor (“to make oneself troublesome”), from Latin importūnus (“unfit, troublesome”), originally "having no harbor".
Meanings
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(transitive) To bother, irritate, trouble.
To deliberate, be it but in slight matters, doth importune me.
1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter XVII, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:But I will no longer importune my young cousin.
1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XIV, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 155:
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(transitive) To harass with persistent requests.
You were kneel'd to, & importun'd otherwiſe / By all of vs; […]
1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 7, column 1:[W]e have been obliged to hire Troops from ſeveral Princes of the Empire, whoſe Ministers and Reſidents here, have perpetually importuned the Court with unreaſonable Demands, under which our late Miniſters thought fit to be Paſſive.
1711 December 8 (Gregorian calendar), [Jonathan Swift], The Conduct of the Allies, and of the Late Ministry, in Beginning and Carrying on the Present War, 4th edition, London: […] John Morphew […], published 1711, →OCLC, page 57:Gentlemen, importune me no farther, / For hovv I firmly am reſolu'd you knovv: / That is, not to beſtovv my yongeſt daughter, / Before I haue a husband for the elder: […]
c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 210, column 2, lines 50–51:
- (transitive) To approach to offer one's services as a prostitute, or otherwise make improper proposals.
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(obsolete, transitive) To import; to signify.
It importunes death.
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 16:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| importuned | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| importuned | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| importuning | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| importunes | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic |
Deriveds
unimportuned · reimportune · importunable
Relateds
Translations (33)
tr dadanmak (to harass with persistent requests) · bg натрапвам се (to harass with persistent requests) · fi ahdistella (to make improper proposals) · es prostituirse (to make improper proposals) · gl abafar (to harass with persistent requests) · pt importunar (to harass with persistent requests) · gl importunar (to harass with persistent requests) · ru надоеда́ть (to harass with persistent requests) · ru приставать (to harass with persistent requests) · mi unene (to harass with persistent requests) · pt incomodar (to harass with persistent requests) · fi anella (to harass with persistent requests) · bg предлагам се (to make improper proposals) · tr üstelemek (to harass with persistent requests) · kk жармасу (to make improper proposals) · de belästigen (to harass with persistent requests) · de bedrängen (to harass with persistent requests) · sv besvära (to harass with persistent requests) · am ወተወተ (to harass with persistent requests) · cs naléhavě žádat (to harass with persistent requests) · kk тықақтау (to harass with persistent requests) · bg досаждам (to harass with persistent requests) · es importunar (to harass with persistent requests) · tr sıkboğaz etmek (to harass with persistent requests) · pl napraszać się (to harass with persistent requests) · ru домога́ться (to harass with persistent requests) · kk жабысу (to make improper proposals) · kk мазасын алу (to make improper proposals) · fi udella (to harass with persistent requests) · mi patete (to harass with persistent requests) · cs obtěžovat (to harass with persistent requests) · cs obtěžovat (to make improper proposals) · cs dotírat (to harass with persistent requests)