imp
noun/ɪmp/
/ɪmp/
- (in stories) a small creature like a little man, that has magic powers and behaves badly
- a child who behaves badly, but not in a serious way
Word OriginOld English impa, impe ‘young shoot, scion’, impian ‘to graft’, based on Greek emphuein ‘to implant’. In late Middle English, the noun denoted a descendant, especially of a noble family, and later a child of the devil or a person regarded as such; hence a “little devil” or mischievous child (early 17th cent.).
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