Imbrue

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɪmˈbɹuː/

Definitions

1. To thoroughly wet or saturate an object, often with a vivid substance, while also implying a deep emotional or moral impact on the subject involved
2. The act of deeply influencing or marking something, particularly through a significant liquid application, alongside an emotional or ethical resonance
3. To stain or soak with a liquid, especially blood or another noticeable substance, while simultaneously conveying a deep emotional or moral significance

Etymology: Imbrue is a word that has drifted from drinking to bloodshed. Its ancestor was the Old French "embevrer", meaning to soak or steep, and that verb itself came from the Vulgar Latin "imbiberare", a relative of the Latin root behind "imbibe". The Old French verb shifted its vowels and sound pattern through a process called metathesis, producing forms like "embrever" and the Middle French "embreuver", and English borrowed the resulting form as "embrewen" in Middle English. Some of the same vowel shifting appears in the French "abreuver", meaning to water animals or to soak. The original sense was literal and unglamorous: to wet or drench something thoroughly. Over time the idea of being steeped in a liquid narrowed in English to being stained or soaked in blood, which is why the word today most often appears in phrases about hands being imbrued in violence. The sense of deeply marking or staining something, with its moral weight, grew from that bloody image.

Synonyms: soak, saturate, stain, drench, imbibe

Antonyms: dry, clean, purify, dehydrate, remove