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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > IMPINGE

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pronounce IMPINGE:

im PINJ
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connect this word to others:

Our word impinge traces back to the Latin pangere, "to fix, to fasten," which makes it a close cousin of the words compact (literally "to fasten together") and impact ("to fasten in or into").

If something impinges on your space, on your freedom, or on your creativity, it seems to fix itself or fasten itself in an unwelcome way: that is, it infringes on your space or freedom or creativity, or encroaches on it, or violates it, or intrudes on it.

While we're talking about unwelcome impingements, see if you can recall an adjective that describes people and things are annoying because they demand your attention and bother you, especially by making urgent requests: they're imp___unate.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)  

definition:

"Impinge" comes from a Latin verb meaning "to push into," which traces further back to pangere, "to fix, to fasten."

In English, "impinge" first meant "to strike, to collide," as in "The hammer impinges on the nail" and "Light impinges on the retina of the eye."

Although you might still see the word used that way, it's more common to use it figuratively: when things impinge on people or on other things, they push on them or put pressure on them in a way that causes stress, harm, pain, or annoyance.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Verb, the intransitive kind: "The police impinged on the protestors' right to peacefully assemble."

Other forms: 

The other verb forms are "impinged" and "impinging."

The noun is "impingement," but it's not often used in the general sense these days. If you see it, you're likely reading about someone's physical injury, such as a shoulder impingement

how to use it:

Pick the formal, semi-common word "impinge" (instead of "infringe," "intrude," or "encroach") when you want to sound very serious.

Talk about actions, events, laws, demands, policies, and other things that impinge on people, or that impinge on people's space, freedom, creativity, autonomy, health, time, money, education, privacy, or relationships.

examples:

"Debate audiences that cannot restrain themselves impinge on even well-organized proceedings. They are more likely to reward attack lines than substantive points, partisanship than reason."
  — Editorial Board, Washington Post, 28 October 2016

"Actions like mining development, agriculture and so on, unleash a whole lot of chemicals which impinge on us every day. We get them through our mouths, through our skin and in our bones, by breathing." 
  — Matthew Rozsa, Salon, 30 November 2024

has this page helped you understand "impinge"?

   

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.




study it:

Explain the meaning of "impinge" without saying "infringe" or "encroach."

try it out:

Hank Willis Thomas, an artist who's active in politics, told the New York Times that our "country is increasingly confronting how one person's freedom may impinge on someone else's."

Could you explain what he means, and possibly give an example? In other words, how could someone, either accidentally or purposefully, impinge on someone else's freedom by exercising their own?




before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Fragments.

In each issue, check out an excerpt from a master of American prose, one in which I've changed the lovely sentence fragments into ugly but grammatically correct sentences. Try restoring the excerpt to its original glory by chiseling those sentences down into fragments.

You can check out some examples here.

Try this one today. It's from O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi:"

Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn’t go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. There was only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. He was her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. That something should be fine and rare and sterling—something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim.

To see the original version, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. There's no precise opposite of IMPINGE, since EXPINGE isn't a word. But some pretty close opposites of IMPINGE are

A. STIFLE and OPPRESS.
B. WIN and ACCOMPLISH.
C. ACCOMMODATE and FOSTER.

2. A writer for the New York Times described how developments in A.I. "impinge on virtually every corner of life," meaning that A.I. _____ every part of our lives.

A. improves
B. makes unwelcome advances into
C. adds a dizzying array of options for




Answers to the review questions:
1. C
2. B

From the game: There are lots of different ways to render each highlighted bit into a fragment! If your version pleases your ears, then you did great.

Here's the original version:

Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn’t go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling—something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim.


a final word:


I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.


From my blog:
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A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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