Etymologically
Log in

imbibo

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 20:05. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɪm.bɪ.boː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈim.bi.bo][1]

Forms

imbibō (present infinitive imbibere, perfect active imbibī); third conjugation, no supine stem[1] Also spelled inbibō.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + bibō (“to drink”).[2][3][1] bibō goes back to Proto-Italic *pibe/o- and to the reduplicated present Proto-Indo-European *pi-ph3-e/o- (“to drink”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest use is figurative: Cicero, in the first speech against Verres, speaks of a man who had conceived a bad opinion in his mind.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The figurative use, “to take into one's mind, conceive” an opinion or attitude, is classical;[6][2] Livy uses it of a resolve formed at the start of a consulship and of the spirit of resistance that filled men's minds.[2][5][7] The literal “drink in, absorb” is post-Augustan and rare: Gratius has it, and Pliny the Elder of smoke inhaled through a funnel.[6][2][8] Gellius uses it of absorbing a false opinion, and Ausonius of taking in a father's arts.[8]

Ecclesiastical writers used it for drinking in or imbibing.[9] The TLL lists Italian imbevere as a descendant.[3] English borrowed it in the late 14th century, from Old French and directly from Latin, as imbibe.[10]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of conceiving an opinion.[2][11]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of a resolve formed in the mind.[2][11]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of inhaling smoke.[6][11]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of absorbing a false opinion.[8][11]
  • late 14th century – English borrows it as imbibe.[10]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To drink in, absorb.[2][6]
  2. To take into one's mind, imbibe (opinions, attitudes); to conceive.[2][8]
  3. To resolve, make up one's mind to (a purpose).[2][8][7]

Word family

  • coimbibo
  • English imbibe

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  9. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de