Etymology The adjective is first attested in 1540, the verb in 1605; borrowed from Medieval Latin impraegnātus, perfect passive participle of Latin impraegnō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix). Doublet of impregn; participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.
1
To cause to become pregnant.
I was impregnated at a clinic but don't know who the sperm donor is.
A speech impregnated with references to the Constitution.
1 more example
The queen at their head, the representative of the future, has not yet been impregnated. Their entire destiny depends on the ensuing nuptial flight.1903 [1901], Maurice Maeterlinck, translated by Alfred Sutro, The Life of the Bee, New York: Dodd, Mead, and Company, page 264:
2
To fertilize.
3
To saturate, or infuse.
To Tartarize, ta²r'ta⁴r-i¹ze, v. a. To impregnate with tartar.1791, John Walker, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary […] , London: Sold by G. G. J. and J. Robinſon, Paternoſter Row; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, →OCLC, page 498:
We find those charæ which secrete the largest quantity of calcareous matter in their stems to abound near springs impregnated with carbonate of lime.1835, Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology […] , 4th edition, volume III, London: John Murray, Book IV, page 322:
4
To fill pores or spaces with a substance.
It takes a little time for the personal fatty acids to impregnate new shoes or boots, but from the scent point of view leather is a sponge, and the personal scent is left.1937, Hugh Bertie Campbell Pollard, The mystery of scent, page 121:
Were they, like Spanish Jennets, to impregnate by the Wind, they could not have thought on a more proper Invention.1711–1714, [Joseph Addison], The Spectator, number (please specify the issue number); republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume (please either specify the issue number or |volume=I to VI), New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
Etymology The adjective is first attested in 1540, the verb in 1605; borrowed from Medieval Latin impraegnātus, perfect passive participle of Latin impraegnō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix). Doublet of impregn; participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.
1
Obsolete, Rare, As a participle Impregnated (all senses).
Obsolete, Rare Imbued, saturated, permeated or filled with.
There Juno stopped, and, her fair steeds unloosed, Of air condensed a vapour circumfused: For these, impregnate with celestial dew, On Simoïs' brink ambrosial herbage grew.1715-20, Alexander Pope, The Iliad of Homer, book V. v.968: