imp

Etymology 1

From Middle English impen, ympen (“to plant; (figuratively) to bury; to graft; to add to, insert, put into, set in; to mend (a falcon’s feather) by attaching a new feather on to the broken stump”), from Old English impian, ġeimpian (“to graft”), from Proto-West Germanic *impōn (“to graft”), from Vulgar Latin *imputō (“to graft”), from Ancient Greek ἔμφῠτος (émphutos, “implanted; planted”), from ἐμφῠ́ω (emphúō, “to implant”, from ἐν- (en-, prefix meaning ‘in’) + φῠ́ω (phúō, “to bring forth, produce; to grow”, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to appear; to become; to grow”))) + -τος (-tos).

verb

1. (obsolete) To engraft or plant">plant (a plant">plant or part of one, a sapling, etc.).
2. (figurative, archaic) To graft or implant (something other than a plant); to fix or set (something) in.
3. (falconry, veterinary medicine) To engraft (a feather) on to a broken feather in a bird's wing or tail to repair it; to engraft (feathers) on to a bird, or a bird's wing or tail.
   I have known feathers so imped that the eye could not discern the place of juncture, and it was difficult even to discover it by passing the thumb-nail down the shaft of the imped feather. 1900, E[dward] B[lair] Michell, “Accidents and Maladies”, in The Art and Practice of Hawking, London: Methuen & Co.[…], →OCLC, page 229
   Bird rehabilitators borrow a trick from falconry with the age-old process of imping flight feathers on to a damaged bird. 2004, Roseann Tomko, Illinois Audubon, Wayne, Ill.: Illinois Audubon Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 19, column 1
   https://books.google.com/books?id=D2sgDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA246 page 246, column 1 Feather damage is a serious problem for any bird. […] Repairing or imping broken feathers is a very good option in these cases and may save months or even a year in captivity. […] https://books.google.com/books?id=D2sgDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA250 page 250, column 1 Note that a feather can usually only be imped once since it is very difficult or impossible to remove and then replace an imping needle from within a feather shaft after it has been glued in place. 2016, David E. Scott, “Feathers and Aging”, in Raptor Medicine, Surgery and Rehabilitation, 2nd edition, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, Boston, Mass.: CABI, pages 246 and 250
4. (by extension)
   1. (figurative, from sense 3) To provide (someone or something) with wings, hence enabling them or it to soar.
   2. To add to or unite a object with (something) to lengthen the latter out or repair it; to eke out, enlarge, strengthen.

Etymology 2

From Middle English impe, ympe (“tree branch; shoot, sprig; graft, scion; young tree, sapling, seedling; tree”) [and other forms], from Old English impa, impe (“shoot, sprig; graft, scion; young tree, sapling, seedling”), from impian, ġeimpian (“to graft”) (see etymology 1).

noun

1. (chiefly fiction and mythology) A small, mischievous sprite or a malevolent supernatural creature, somewhat comparable to a demon but smaller and less powerful, formerly regarded as the child of the devil or a demon (see sense 3.2).
   "Yes, there are a great, great many coming after us; at least a score," said the lad.—"Well, that's the troll," said the horse; "he is coming after us with his imps." 1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], “The Widow’s Son”, in H[ans] L[ien] Brækstad, transl., Round the Yule Log: Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 218
2. (by extension)
   1. (often humorous) A mischievous child.
   2. A baby Tasmanian devil.
      When they are upset, their ears blush a furious crimson, resembling red horns and adding to their diabolical image. (Baby devils, packed four to a pouch, are known as imps.)] [2012 May, Abigail Tucker, “What is Killing the Tasmanian Devil?”, in Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-05-04
      Although this devil was new to her – he was at the neck of the peninsula, which she visited only once a year – she often trapped the same devils dozens of times over the years, watching them grow from tiny imps in their mothers’ pouches to the grizzled old age of about 5. 31 March 2014, Julie Rehmeyer, “Fatal Cancer Threatens Tasmanian Devil Populations”, in Discover: Science for the Curious, Waukesha, Wis.: Kalmbach Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-11-08
      Siberian Tigers vs. Tasmanian Devils […] Tasmanian devils are marsupials, mammals with pouches. Females give birth to tiny, undeveloped babies called imps. About twenty to thirty imps are born at one time. The imps race to survive. They crawl about 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) to their mother's pouch. The first few to arrive attach themselves to the mother's four nipples. Only these four imps survive. 2015, Rebecca E. Hirsch, “The Life Cycle of Siberian Tigers”, in Siberian Tigers: Camouflaged Hunting Mammals (Comparing Animal Traits), Minneapolis, Minn.: Lerner Publications Company, page 28
3. (obsolete)
   1. A young shoot of a plant, a tree, etc.; a sapling; also, a part of a plant used for grafting; a graft.
      Þai sett hem doun al þre / Vnder a fair ympetre, / And wel sone þis fair quene / Fel on slepe opon þe grene. They set them down all three / Under a fair imp-tree, / And well soon this fair queen / Fell asleep upon the green.] [c. late 13th or early 14th century, Oscar Zielke, editor, Sir Orfeo: Ein englisches Feenmärchen aus dem Mittelalter:[…] (in Middle English), Breslau: Verlag von Wilhelm Koebner, published 1880, →OCLC, lines 67–70, page 89
   2. An offspring or scion, especially of a noble family; (generally) a (usually male) child; a (young) man.
   3. (Britain, dialectal) Something added to or united with another to lengthen it out or repair it (such as an eke or small stand on which a beehive is placed, or a length of twisted hair in a fishing line).