Imbue

WORD OF THE DAY


imbue \ im-BYOO \ verb
 
Definition
1 : to permeate or influence as if by dyeing
2 : to tinge or dye deeply
3a : to provide with something freely or naturally
3b: endow


Examples
The children were imbued with a passion for nature by their parents, both
biologists.


"For a 23-year-old newly imbued with national fame, Jacoby Brissett is a man of few vices. One of them is chocolate chip cookies, which in college he baked for his offensive linemen."
— Adam Kilgore, The Washington Post, 22 Sept. 2016
 
Did You Know?
Like its synonym infuse, imbue implies the introduction of one thing into another so as to affect it throughout. A nation can be imbued with pride, for example, or a photograph might be imbued with a sense of melancholy.
In the past imbue has also been used synonymously with imbrue, an obscure word meaning "to drench or stain," but etymologists do not think the two words are related. Imbue derives from the Latin verb imbuere, meaning "to dye, wet, or moisten." Imbrue has been traced back through Anglo-French and Old French to the Latin verb bibere, meaning "to drink."