importune
UK /ɪmpɔːˈtjuːn/ · US /ɪmpɔɹˈtuːn/ verb, adjective, noun
Forms importunes importuning importuned
- verb (transitive) To bother, irritate, trouble.
- verb (transitive) To harass with persistent requests.
- verb (transitive) To approach to offer one's services as a prostitute, or otherwise make improper proposals.
- verb (obsolete, transitive) To import; to signify.
- adjective (obsolete) Grievous, severe, exacting.
- adjective (obsolete) Inopportune; unseasonable.
- adjective (obsolete) Troublesome; vexatious; persistent.
- noun (obsolete) Synonym of importuner.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle French importuner and its etymon Medieval Latin importūnor (“to make oneself troublesome”), from Latin importūnus (“unfit, troublesome”), originally "having no harbor".
From Middle English importune, inportune, from Anglo-Norman and Middle French importun and its etymon Classical Latin importūnus.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Inopportune; unseasonable. [Obs.]
- adjective Troublesome; vexatious; persistent; urgent; hence, vexatious on account of untimely urgency or perinacious solicitation. [Obs.]
- verb To request or solicit, with urgency; to press with frequent, unreasonable, or troublesome application or pertinacity; hence, to tease; to irritate; to worry.
- verb To import; to signify. [Obs.] "It importunes death." Spenser.
Etymology [F. importun, L. importunus; pref. im- not + a derivative from the root of portus harbor, importunus therefore orig. meaning, hard of access. See Port harbor, and cf. Importunate.]
Etymology [From Importune, a.: cf. F. importuner.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “importune”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details