Etymologically
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implement

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:38. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈɪmpləmɛnt/, /ˈɪmpləmənt/[1]

Etymology

It is partly borrowed from Medieval Latin implēmenta (“equipment”), plural, from medieval Latin implēre, to employ, spend (by association with implicāre), and partly borrowed from Late Latin implēmentum (“a filling up, fulfilment”),[2][3][4] from implēre (“to fill up, fulfil”), from in- (“in”) and plēre (“to fill”),[5][6][7] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *pele- (“to fill”).[5] Barnhart suggests influence from Old French emplement, act of filling.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Things that serve as equipment, as for a house: 1454 in the OED;[8] a supplementary payment in 1445 in Barnhart and Etymonline.[6][5]

Semantic evolution

Tools or utensils used in a trade are from 1538, in the plural,[6][8] and a single tool from 1628.[6] In Scots law it meant fulfilment (1754),[8] and the verb, to carry into effect, was originally Scottish, from 1707 in Etymonline, 1806 in the OED.[5][8] Implementation is recorded by 1913.[5]

Timeline

  • 1454 – equipment.[8]
  • 1538 – tools.[6][8]
  • 1628 – a single tool.[6]
  • 1707 – the verb.[5]
  • 1754 – fulfilment (Scots law).[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A tool or instrument used in doing work.
  2. A means of achieving an end; an agent.

Verb

  1. To put into effect; to carry out: implement a plan.

Word family

  • implementation
  • implementer
  • implementable
  • implemental
  • nonimplement
  • reimplement

Usage notes

The AHD notes that the verb, to put into practice, has been used since the 19th century; some critics objected to it as jargon, but its usefulness has outweighed their objections.[9]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin