imparlance

I1M3P3A1R1L1A1N1C3E1

noun

Discussion, especially before some action is taken; conference, debate.

OriginAnglo-Norman emparlance ← Old French emparler →
Scrabble 16
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Meanings

nounimparlance (countable and uncountable, plural imparlances)

plural imparlances · alternative emparlance · alternative inparliance

  1. countableobsoleteuncountableDiscussion, especially before some action is taken; conference, debate.

    Full oftentimes did Britomart assay / To speake to them, and some emparlance move; / But they for nought their cruell hands would stay […].

    1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
  2. countableobsoleteuncountablelawTime given to a party to talk or converse with his opponent, originally with the object of effecting, if possible, an amicable adjustment of the suit, but also used to obtain further time to plead or answer allegations.

    [W]ith Rejoinders and Replies, / Long Bills, and Anſvvers, ſtuft vvith Lies, / Demurr, Imparlance, and Eſſoign, / The Parties ne'er could Iſſue join: / For Sixteen Years the Cauſe vvas ſpun, / And then ſtood vvhere it firſt begun.

    1726, [Jonathan Swift], Cadenus and Vanessa. A Poem, London: […] J. Roberts […], →OCLC, page 9

Origin

  1. Old Frenchemparler
  2. Anglo-Normanemparlance
  3. Englishimparlance

Ultimately from Anglo-Norman emparlance, from the verb Old French emparler.

More words from Anglo-Norman, Old French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

imparlance. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imparlance

MLA

“imparlance.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imparlance. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “imparlance,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imparlance.

Source: imparlance on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.