Etymologically
Log in

impero

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:47. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɪm.pɛ.roː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈim.pe.ro][1]

Forms

imperō (present infinitive imperāre, perfect active imperāvī, supine imperātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from in- and parō “to prepare, arrange”.[2][1][3] The TLL compares Paelignian ⟨empratois⟩ “ordered”.[3] It is also spelled ⟨inperō⟩, and old forms include ⟨imperāssit⟩ in Cicero's archaic laws and ⟨indu-perantum⟩ for ⟨imperantium⟩ in Ennius.[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of ordering a levy and of giving orders.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to demand the supply of something, order, levy, and to enjoin, prescribe, as Cicero's ordering a dinner.[2][6] It meant to give orders, command, with a dative, a subjunctive clause or an infinitive, and in grammar to express a command, as in Varro.[2] It meant to hold power, rule, of the emperor in Tacitus, to be in command of an army, to be in authority over a household, and to control oneself or one's appetites, as in Cicero.[2] Döderlein explains that iubēre is to bid from one's own will, imperāre to command by supreme military authority.[7]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to rule, command, enjoin, order.[8] It was borrowed into Italian imperare and Spanish and Portuguese imperar, and its agent noun imperātor is the source of English emperor.[1][9]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of levies and orders.[2][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the imperative in grammar.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of ruling and of self-control.[2][5]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it of the emperor's rule.[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To demand, levy, order the supply of.[2]
  2. To enjoin, prescribe, exercitum imperāre, to mobilize an army.[2]
  3. To give orders, command.[2]
  4. (grammar) To express a command.[2]
  5. To rule, hold power; of the emperor, to reign.[2]
  6. To be in command, be in authority.[2]
  7. To control, master oneself or one's passions.[2]

Word family

  • imperātīvus
  • imperātor
  • imperātōrius
  • imperātrīx
  • imperātum
  • imperatus
  • imperitō
  • imperium
  • adimperō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com