imp

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

imp, n. [OE. imp a graft, AS. impa; akin to Dan. ympe, Sw. ymp, prob. fr. LL. impotus, Gr. engrafted, innate, fr. to implant; in + to produce; akin to E. be. See 1st In-, Be.].

•  A shoot; a scion; a bud; a slip; a graft.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]
•  An offspring; progeny; child; scion.  [1913 Webster]

  "The tender imp was weaned."  [1913 Webster]
•  A young or inferior devil; a little, malignant spirit; a puny demon; a contemptible evil worker.  [1913 Webster]

  "To mingle in the clamorous fray
  Of squabbling imps."  [1913 Webster]
•  Something added to, or united with, another, to lengthen it out or repair it, -- as, an addition to a beehive; a feather inserted in a broken wing of a bird; a length of twisted hair in a fishing line.  [1913 Webster]

imp, v. t. [AS. impian to imp, ingraft, plant; akin to Dan. ympe, Sw. ympa, OHG. impfōn, impitōn, G. impfen. See Imp, n.].

•  To graft; to insert as a scion.  Rom. of R.  [1913 Webster]
•  To graft with new feathers, as a wing; to splice a broken feather.  [1913 Webster]

  "Imp out our drooping country's broken wing."  [1913 Webster]

  "Who lazily imp their wings with other men's plumes."  [1913 Webster]

  "Here no frail Muse shall imp her crippled wing."  [1913 Webster]

  "Help, ye tart satirists, to imp my rage
  With all the scorpions that should whip this age."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

imp, n. & v.
--n.
1 a mischievous child.
2 a small mischievous devil or sprite.
--v.tr.
1 add feathers to (the wing of a falcon) to restore or improve its flight.
2 archaic enlarge; add by grafting.

Etymology

OE impa, impe young shoot, scion, impian graft: ult. f. Gk emphutos implanted, past part. of emphuo

THESAURUS

imp

Ariel, Befind, Corrigan, Dingbelle, Fifinella, Finnbeara, Hob, Hobgoblin, JD, Mab, Oberon, Puck, Titania, appendage, arm, bad boy, bad fairy, bad peri, banshee, booger, bough, branch, brat, brownie, buffoon, bugger, cluricaune, cutup, devil, deviling, devilkin, diablotin, dwarf, elf, enfant terrible, erlking, fairy, fairy queen, fay, funmaker, gamin, gnome, goblin, gremlin, hand, hob, hobgoblin, holy terror, hood, hoodlum, hooligan, joint, joker, jokester, juvenile delinquent, knave, kobold, leg, leprechaun, limb, link, little devil, little monkey, little rascal, lobe, lobule, member, minx, mischief, mischief-maker, monkey, offshoot, organ, ouphe, peri, pinion, pixie, poltergeist, pooka, practical joker, prankster, puca, puck, punk, punk kid, pwca, ramification, rapscallion, rascal, rogue, rowdy, ruffian, runner, scamp, scapegrace, scion, spoiled brat, spray, sprig, sprite, spur, switch, sylph, sylphid, tail, tendril, tokoloshe, troll, twig, urchin, wag, whippersnapper, wing, young devil

ROGET THESAURUS

imp

Demon

N demon, daemon, demonry, demonology, evil genius, fiend, familiar, daeva, devil, bad spirit, unclean spirit, cacodemon, incubus, Eblis, shaitan, succubus, succuba, Frankenstein's monster, Titan, Shedim, Mephistopheles, Asmodeus, Moloch, Belial, Ahriman, fury, harpy, Friar Rush, vampire, ghoul, afreet, barghest, Loki, ogre, ogress, gnome, gin, jinn, imp, deev, lamia, bogie, bogeyman, bogle, nis, kobold, flibbertigibbet, fairy, brownie, pixy, elf, dwarf, urchin, Puck, Robin Goodfellow, leprechaun, Cluricaune, troll, dwerger, sprite, ouphe, bad fairy, nix, nixie, pigwidgeon, will-o'-the wisp, ghost, revenant, specter, apparition, spirit, shade, shadow, vision, hobglobin, goblin, orc, wraith, spook, boggart, banshee, loup-garou, lemures, evil eye, merman, mermaid, merfolk, siren, satyr, faun, manito, manitou, manitu, possession, demonic possession, diabolic possession, insanity, Maxwell's demon, demoniac, demonic, demonical, impish, demoniacal, fiendish, fiend-like, supernatural, weird, uncanny, unearthly, spectral, ghostly, ghost-like, elfin, elvin, elfish, elflike, haunted, pokerish, possessed, possessed by a devil, possessed by a demon, demonically.