Etymologically
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impello

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪmˈpɛl.loː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [imˈpɛl.lo][1]

Forms

impellō (present infinitive impellere, perfect active impulī, supine impulsum); third conjugation[1] It is also spelled inpellō;[2][3] Terence has a perfect subjunctive inpepulerim, and Lucretius the passive infinitive inpellier.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin in- (“against, into”) + pellō (“to push, drive”).[2][3][1][4] De Vaan derives pellō from Proto-Italic *pelna- (“to approach”), Proto-Indo-European *pl-n(e)-h₂- (“to approach”), with a shift from “bring close to” to “push”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ennius has manū magnā Rōmānōs impulit amnis, “the river drove the Romans on with a mighty hand”.[2] Trabea has adveniēns digitō impellam iānuam, “on my arrival I will push the door with a finger”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Impellere is “to strike against, push” (Cicero: being pushed against the arch of Fabius), “to drive forward, set in motion” (Pacuvius: wherever chance sent the stone), and “to drive” animals or carts.[2][3][1] In war it is “to drive back” the enemy's line (Livy: impulsa frōns prīma, “the front line was driven in”), and “to knock down, overthrow” (Virgil of a tower).[2][1] Figuratively it is “to urge, incite, persuade” someone to an action or opinion.[2][1]

Church Latin glosses it “push, thrust, impel, urge on, incite”.[6] English impel comes from it in the early 15th century.[4]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: Rōmānōs impulit amnis.[2][7]
  • 220–130 BC – Pacuvius uses it of a stone sent by chance.[2][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the feelings of an audience.[2][7]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy: impulsa frōns prīma.[2][7]
  • early 15th century – Borrowed into English as impel.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To strike against, push.[2][3][1][6]
  2. To drive forward, set in motion, propel.[2][1][6]
  3. To drive (animals, carts).[2]
  4. (military) To drive back, rout.[2][1]
  5. To knock down, overthrow.[2][1]
  6. To urge, incite, persuade.[2][1][6]

Word family

  • impulsiō
  • impulsor
  • impulstrix
  • impulsus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de