Etymology

im-

Today it means: Expressing negation; not. Full definition →

Latin im- ← Proto-Italic *n̥- ← Proto-Indo-European *n̥-
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im- · prefix1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Italic*n̥-
  4. Latinin-
  5. Latinim-
  6. English todayim-

From Latin im-, assimilated form of in- used before b-/p-/m-.

im- · prefix2

  1. Middle French · derived fromim-
  2. Old French · derived fromem-
  3. English todayim-

From em-, from Old French em-. Also from later Middle French im-, partly by confusion with im- of Latin origin (on which see above).

Words from the same roots

Latinim- all →

immaterialimpregnableimperturbableimburseimpacableimpertransible

Old Frenchem- all →

abate

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.