Word: imp Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English impe, ympe (“tree branch; shoot, sprig; graft, scion; young tree, sapling, seedling; tree”) [and other forms], from Old English impa, impe (“shoot, sprig; graft, scion; young tree, sapling, seedling”), from impian, ġeimpian (“to graft”) (see etymology 1). Pronunciation: /ɪmp/ 1. A small, mischievous sprite or a malevolent supernatural creature, somewhat comparable to a demon but smaller and less powerful, formerly regarded as the child of the devil or a demon (see sense 3.2). Labels: transitive Example: "Yes, there are a great, great many coming after us; at least a score," said the lad.—"Well, that's the troll," said the horse; "he is coming after us with his imps." Example: It was as if there were little imps dancing in my mouth, and every so often, when a situation arose, they'd get together, giggle wickedly, and try to push words out of my open mouth. 2. A mischievous child. Labels: broadly, humorous, often, transitive Example: Concourſe, and noiſe, and toil, he ever fled; / Nor cared to mingle in the clamorous fray / Of ſquabbling imps; but to the foreſt ſped, / Or roam'd at large the lonely mountain's head; […] Example: […] I've left my young children to look after themselves, and a more mischievous and troublesome set of young imps doesn't exist, ma'am; […] 3. A baby Tasmanian devil. Labels: broadly, transitive Example: When they are upset, their ears blush a furious crimson, resembling red horns and adding to their diabolical image. (Baby devils, packed four to a pouch, are known as imps.) Example: Although this devil was new to her – he was at the neck of the peninsula, which she visited only once a year – she often trapped the same devils dozens of times over the years, watching them grow from tiny imps in their mothers’ pouches to the grizzled old age of about 5. 4. A supporter (or less commonly, a player) of the Lincoln City Football Club. Labels: UK, broadly, colloquial, transitive 5. A young shoot of a plant, a tree, etc.; a sapling; also, a part of a plant used for grafting; a graft. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: Þai sett hem doun al þre / Vnder a fair ympetre, / And wel sone þis fair quene / Fel on slepe opon þe grene. Example: [Atheists and Epicures,] ſeeke they not by all meanes poſſible too weede all Religion, all feare of GOD, all remorſe of conſcience out of mennes harts? Out of theſe rootes ſpring other impes, no leſſe perniciouſe than the ſtockes of whiche they come: […] 6. An offspring or scion, especially of a noble family; (generally) a (usually male) child; a (young) man. Labels: obsolete, transitive Example: And thou moſt dreaded impe of higheſt Ioue, / Faire Venus ſonne, that with thy cruell dart / At that good knight ſo cunningly didſt rove, / That glorious fire it kindled in his heart, / Lay now thy deadly Heben bow apart, / And with thy mother milde come to my ayde: […] Example: [B]efore / The tender impe was wained from the teat, / The Princess Maud him tooke, in vertues lore / She brought him vp, […] 7. Something added to or united with another to lengthen it out or repair it (such as an eke or small stand on which a beehive is placed, or a length of twisted hair in a fishing line). Labels: UK, dialectal, obsolete, transitive