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impleo

Etymology and origin of the Latin word impleo

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (pleō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈɪm.pɫe.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈim.ple.o][1]

Forms

impleō (present infinitive implēre, perfect active implēvī, supine implētum); second conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from in- and pleō “to fill”, a verb found only in compounds.[2][1][3] The TLL compares Ancient Greek ἐμπίμπλημι (empímplēmi, “to fill up”) and plēnus “full”.[4] It is also spelled ⟨inpleō⟩, and syncopated forms such as ⟨implērunt⟩ and ⟨implēssem⟩ are common in Virgil and Ovid.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of filling a container and of filling a place with people.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant to fill a space or container, to fill with people or with noise, as in Livy, and to cover a surface or fill pages with writing, as Cicero's volūmina implēre.[2][3] It meant to fill with food, fatten, sate the eyes and ears, make pregnant, as in Columella, and to fill with qualities, news or emotions.[2] It meant to fill a period of time, as Horace's expressions of age, to make up a measure, and to carry out completely, fulfil an agreement, wishes or prophecies, as in Virgil, Ovid and Livy.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to fill, accomplish, celebrate, satiate.[7] It survives in Romanian umple, Catalan omplir and French emplir.[1] Late Latin implēmentum “a filling up” gave English implement in the mid-15th century, and English implete “to fill” is recorded from 1862.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of filling.[2][6]
  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius uses it of fattening.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of filling volumes.[2][3][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of fulfilling wishes.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To fill a space or container; to fill with people or noise.[2]
  2. To cover; to fill with writing.[2]
  3. To fill with food, sate; to fatten; to make pregnant.[2]
  4. To fill with qualities, news, emotions.[2]
  5. To fill out a theme.[2]
  6. To fill or complete a period of time.[2]
  7. To make up, amount to.[2]
  8. To carry out, fulfil; to satisfy wishes; of prophecies, to fulfil.[2]

Word family

  • adimpleō
  • implebilis
  • implēmentum
  • impletio
  • implētus
  • superimpleō

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 r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Impleo.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/impleo. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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