Word: importunity Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Late Middle English importunitie, importunyte (“insistence, persistence; grievance; hardship, trouble; inappropriateness (?)”), from Anglo-Norman importunité, and Middle French importunité (“persistent demand; hardship, trouble; something difficult or troublesome; inappropriateness”) (modern French importunité), and their etymon Latin importūnitās (“insolence, rudeness; oppressiveness, relentlessness; unfitness, unsuitableness”), from importūnus (“annoying; rude; inconvenient; unsuitable”) + -tās (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns denoting states of being). Importūnus is derived from im- (a variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + portus (“harbour, port; haven, refuge”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pértus (“crossing”), from *per- (“to carry forth, fare; to dare, try; to go through;”)) + -nus (suffix forming adjectives). By surface analysis, importune + -ity (suffix forming abstract nouns from adjectives, referring to the state of conforming to what the adjectives describe). Pronunciation: /ˌɪmpəˈtjuːnɪti/, /-pɔː-/, /-t͡ʃuː-/, /ˌɪmpəɹˈt(j)unɪti/, /-poɹ-/ 1. Constant and insistent demanding or proposing, especially if regarded as annoying or upsetting; also, the character of such behaviour; (countable) an instance of this. Labels: uncountable Example: And he [Jesus] ſayde vnto thẽ [them]: which of you ſhall have a frende and ſhall goo to hym att mydnyght⸝ and ſaye vnto hym: frende lende me foure loves for a frende of myne is come out off the waye to me⸝ and I have nothynge to ſett before hĩ [him]⸝ And he within ſhall andſwer and ſaye: Trouble me nott⸝ nowe is the doore ſhett⸝ and my ſervaunttꝭ [servaunttis, i.e., servants] are with me in the chamber⸝ I cannot ryſe and geve thẽ to the [them to thee]. I ſaye vnto you: though he woll not aryſe and geve hym⸝ becauſe he is his frende: Yet becauſe of hys importunitie he woll ryſe and geve him as many as he nedeth. Example: Of a ſuretie, it is a ioyfull thynge to reioyce in the chyldhode of chyldren, but it is a ryght cruel thing to ſuffre the importunities of their mothers. 2. The fact of being at an inappropriate or unsuitable time; unseasonableness. Labels: obsolete, uncountable Example: Speake not, where there is no audyence: and poure not forth wyſzdome out of tyme, at an importunyte. Example: It is one of the moſt vexatious Mortifications perhaps, of a Sober, and a Studious Mans Life, to have his Thoughts Diſorder'd, and the very Chain of his Reaſon Diſcompos'd, by the Importunity of a Tedious, and an Impertinent Viſit. 3. Persistence in behaviour; determination, perseverance, stubbornness. Labels: obsolete, uncountable Example: I beſech the [thee] with what colours coude more workmanly haue be paynteth and ſet out eyther venymous entycementes and wanton pleaſures of the poyſoned fleſſhe⸝ prouokyng ⁊ temptynge the ſoule to fylthynes of ſynne⸝ or elſe the importunytye of the ſame cryenge and ſtryuyng agaynſt the ſpiryte⸝ or the wretched ende that foloweth whan ſhe [a harlot] dothe ouercõme the ſpiryte. Example: [S]uch vague memories hang about the mind like cobwebs, with tickling importunity—best to sweep them away at a dash: […] 4. The quality of being annoying or troublesome; difficulty, trouble; (countable) an instance of this. Labels: obsolete, uncountable Example: [V]ery often the Importunity and Violence of the Cough vvas to be appeaſed by Elixir Aſthmaticum, Diacodium, &c.