impose

The story

1. Latin · derived fromimpositus“established; put upon, imposed”
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*h₂pó
3. Latin · derived fromimpōnere“to place or set (something) on; (figurative) to impose (a duty, tax, etc.)”
4. Old French · derived fromemposer
5. Middle French · derived fromimposer
6. Middle English · inherited fromimposen“to place, set; to impose (a duty, etc.)”
7. English todayimpose

The verb is derived from Late Middle English imposen (“to place, set; to impose (a duty, etc.)”), borrowed from Middle French imposer, and Old French emposer, enposer (“to impose (a duty, tax, etc.)”) (modern French imposer), from im-, em- (variants of en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’)) + poser (“to place, put”), modelled after: * Latin impōnere (“to place or set (something) on; (figurative) to impose (a duty, tax, etc.)”), from im- (variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘on, upon’)) + pōnō (“to place, put; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂pó, *h₂epó (“away; off”) + *tḱey- (“to cultivate; to live; to settle”)); and * Latin impositus (“established; put upon, imposed”), the perfect passive participle of impōnō: see above. The noun is derived from the verb.

Words from the same roots