impend
/ɪmˈpɛnd/ verb
Forms impends impending impended
- verb (obsolete) To hang or be suspended over (something); to overhang.
- verb (intransitive, figurative) To hang over (someone) as a threat or danger.
- verb (intransitive) To threaten to happen; to be about to happen, to be imminent. “impending doom”
- verb (obsolete) To pay.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin impendere (“to hang over, to weigh out”), 1590s.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To pay. [Obs.] Fabyan.
- verb To hang over; to be suspended above; to threaten frome near at hand; to menace; to be imminent. See Imminent.
Etymology [L. impend; pref. im- in + pend to weigh out, pay.]
Etymology [L. impendere; pref. im- in + pendere to hang. See Pendant.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “impend”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details