different between leprechaun vs imp

English

Alternative forms

• lepracaun

Etymology

From Irish leipreachán, luprachán, from Middle Irish luchrupán, from Old Irish luchorpán. See also Irish lucharachán.

The word's further etymology is disputed; it is traditionally explained as a compound containing lú (“small”, from Proto-Indo-European *h?leng??-) + corp (“body”, which is from Latin corpus). However, an alternative suggestion is that it is a derivative of Latin Luperc? (“priests of Lupercus”), who were misinterpreted as an antediluvian species by medieval Irish scholars.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?l?p??k??n/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?l?pr??k?n/, /?l?pr??k?n/

Noun

leprechaun (plural leprechauns)

1. (Irish folklore) One of a race of elves that can reveal hidden treasure to those who catch them.

Derived terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• leprechaun on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Italian

Alternative forms

• leprecano, lepricauno, leprecauno (adapted forms)

Etymology

Borrowed from English leprechaun, from Irish leipreachán, luprachán, from Middle Irish luchrupán, from Old Irish luchorpán, of disputed etymology.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l?.pre.kon/, /?l?.pri.kon/

Noun

leprechaun m (invariable)

1. (Irish folklore) leprechaun

   Synonyms: gnomo irlandese, folletto irlandese

Derived terms

• leprechaunismo

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /?mp/
• Rhymes: -?mp

Etymology 1

From Middle English impen, ympen (“to plant; (figuratively) to bury; to graft; to add to, insert, put into, set in; to mend (a falcon’s feather) by attaching a new feather on to the broken stump”), from Old English impian, ?eimpian (“to graft”), from Proto-West Germanic *imp?n (“to graft”), from Vulgar Latin *imput? (“to graft”), from Ancient Greek ??????? (émphutos, “implanted; planted”), from ?????? (emphú?, “to implant”) (from ??- (en-, prefix meaning ‘in’) + ???? (phú?, “to bring forth, produce; to grow”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *b?uH- (“to appear; to become; to grow”))) + -??? (-tos).

Verb

imp (third-person singular simple present imps, present participle imping, simple past and past participle imped) (transitive)

1. (obsolete) To engraft or plant (a plant or part of one, a sapling, etc.).
2. (figuratively, archaic) To graft or implant (something other than a plant); to fix or set (something) in.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.9:

     That headlesse tyrants tronke he reard from ground, / And, having ympt the head to it agayne, / Upon his usuall beast it firmely bound, / And made it so to ride as it alive was found.

3. (falconry)
   1. To engraft (a feather) on to a broken feather in a bird's wing or tail to repair it; to engraft (feathers) on to a bird's wing or tail.
   2. To engraft (a bird, or bird's wing or tail) with feathers.
   3. (figuratively) To provide (someone or something) with wings, hence enabling them or it to soar.
      • 1633, George Herbert, "Easter Wings"

        With thee / Let me combine, / And feel this day thy victory / For, if I imp my wing on thine, / Affliction shall advance the flight in me.

4. (by extension) To add to or unite with (something) another object to lengthen it out or repair it; to eke out, enlarge, strengthen.

Translations

Etymology 2

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, ?eimpian (“to graft”) (see etymology 1).

Noun

imp (plural imps)

1. (chiefly fiction and mythology) 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). [from 16th c.]
   • 1771, James Beattie, The Minstrel:

     Nor cared to mingle in the clamorous fray / Of squabbling imps […]
2. (by extension)
   1. (often humorous) A mischievous child. [from 17th c.]

      Synonyms: brat, little dickens, scamp, urchin

      • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

        I've left my young children to look after themselves, and a more mischievous and troublesome set of young imps doesn't exist...

   2. A baby Tasmanian devil.
3. (obsolete)
   1. A young shoot of a plant, a tree, etc.; a sapling; also, a part of a plant used for grafting; a graft. [9th–18th c.]
      • 14th c., Sir Orfeo, 69:

        Þai sett hem doun al þre / Vnder a fair ympe-tre.

      • 1571, Arthur Golding, The Psalmes of David and others. With M. John Calvins Commentaries, “Epistle Dedicatorie,”^[1]

        Out of these rootes spring other impes, no lesse perniciouse than the stockes of whiche they come […]

   2. An offspring or scion, especially of a noble family; (generally) a (usually male) child; a (young) man. [15th–19th c.]
      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene I.3:

        And thou most dreaded impe of highest Ioue, / Faire Venus sonne, [...] come to mine ayde [...].

      • The tender imp was weaned from the teat.

   3. (Britain, dialectal) 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).

Derived terms

• impish
• impishly
• implike
• impishness

Translations

References

Further reading

• imp on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• IPM, MIP, MPI, PIM, PMI