impose.
To physically lay or place (something) on another thing; to deposit, to put, to set.
Meaning & usage
To physically lay or place (something) on another thing; to deposit, to put, to set.
To physically lay or place (something) on another thing; to deposit, to put, to set. To lay or place (one's hands) on someone as a blessing, during rites of confirmation, ordination, etc.
To physically lay or place (something) on another thing; to deposit, to put, to set. To lay (columns or pages of type, or printing plates) arranged in a proper order on the bed of a press or an imposing stone and secure them in a chase in preparation for printing.
To apply, enforce, or establish (something, often regarded as burdensome as a restriction or tax: see verb sense 1.2.2) with authority.
Congress imposed new tariffs.
Sanctions were imposed on the country that had made an unprovoked attack on its neighbour.
To place or put (something chiefly immaterial, especially something regarded as burdensome as a duty, an encumbrance, a penalty, etc.) on another thing or on someone; to inflict, to repose; also, to place or put (on someone a chiefly immaterial thing, especially something regarded as burdensome).
Social relations impose courtesy.
To force or put (a thing) on someone or something by deceit or stealth; to foist, to obtrude.
To subject (a student) to imposition (“a task inflicted as punishment”).
To appoint (someone) to be in authority or command over other people.
To accuse someone of (a crime, or a sin or other wrongdoing); to charge, to impute.
To put (a conclusion or end) to something definitively.
Chiefly followed by on or upon. To affect authoritatively or forcefully; to influence strongly.
Chiefly followed by on or upon. To encroach or intrude, especially in a manner regarded as unfair or unwarranted; to presume, to take advantage of; also, to be a burden or inconvenience.
I don’t wish to impose upon you.
Chiefly followed by on or upon. To practise deceit or stealth; to cheat, to deceive, to trick.
Chiefly followed by on or upon. To subject to an impost, levy, tax, etc.
Where this word comes from
The verb is derived from Late Middle English imposen (“to place, set; to impose (a duty, etc.)”), borrowed from Middle French imposer, and Old French emposer, enposer (“to impose (a duty, tax, etc.)”) (modern French imposer), from im-, em- (variants of en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’)) + poser (“to place, put”), modelled after: * Latin impōnere (“to place or set (something) on; (figurative) to impose (a duty, tax, etc.)”), from im- (variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘on, upon’)) + pōnō (“to place, put; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂pó, *h₂epó (“away; off”) + *tḱey- (“to cultivate; to live; to settle”)); and * Latin impositus (“established; put upon, imposed”), the perfect passive participle of impōnō: see above. The noun is derived from the verb.
An act of placing or putting on something chiefly immaterial, especially something regarded as burdensome as a duty, a task, etc.; an imposition.
Where this word comes from
The verb is derived from Late Middle English imposen (“to place, set; to impose (a duty, etc.)”), borrowed from Middle French imposer, and Old French emposer, enposer (“to impose (a duty, tax, etc.)”) (modern French imposer), from im-, em- (variants of en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’)) + poser (“to place, put”), modelled after: * Latin impōnere (“to place or set (something) on; (figurative) to impose (a duty, tax, etc.)”), from im- (variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘on, upon’)) + pōnō (“to place, put; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂pó, *h₂epó (“away; off”) + *tḱey- (“to cultivate; to live; to settle”)); and * Latin impositus (“established; put upon, imposed”), the perfect passive participle of impōnō: see above. The noun is derived from the verb.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.