imbue
verbUK /ɪmˈbjuː/ · US /ɪmˈbju/
Etymology From Latin imbuō (“wet, moisten”). Compare imbibe.
1
To instill or inspire (someone) with a certain quality, feeling, or idea.
- The patriarchal lives of my protectors caused these impressions to take a firm hold on my mind; perhaps, if my first introduction to humanity had been made by a young soldier, burning for glory and slaughter, I should have been imbued with different sensations.1823, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus, volume 1, London, pages 35-36:
2
To wet or stain an object completely with some physical quality.
- The shirt was imbued with his scent.
- I might leave the answering of one part of the objection to physicians and chymists, who teach, that the antimonial glass and cup imbue wine and other liquors with a strong emetic quality, without any sensible loss of weight.1772, “An Essay about the Origin and Virtue of Gems”, in THE WORKS OF THE HONOURABLE ROBERT BOYLE., A NEW EDITION edition, volume VOLUME THE THIRD, page 545:
3
In general, to act in a way which results in an object becoming completely permeated or impregnated by some quality.
- The entire text is imbued with the sense of melancholy and hopelessness.