Imperative

How to spell imperative

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce imperative

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does imperative mean?

1. adjectiveOf vital importance; absolutely necessary and not to be avoided.
2. nounAn essential or urgent thing that demands action, or the grammatical mood used to give commands.

Imperative in a sentence

• adjective

  It is imperative that we submit the tax return before the deadline.

• noun

  Reducing costs became the chief imperative once sales began to fall.

• adjective

  Prompt treatment is imperative when an infection spreads this quickly.

• noun

  The teacher explained how the imperative is formed when giving direct instructions.

Where does imperative come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin imperativus, meaning 'relating to a command', which was built from the verb imperare, 'to command' or 'to give orders'. That verb itself joined the prefix in-, here meaning 'into' or 'upon', with parare, 'to prepare, set in order, make ready', so the literal idea was of putting something into order by authority. Roman grammarians used imperativus as the technical label for the mood of a verb that issues a command, and English borrowed the term in the fifteenth century first for exactly that grammatical sense. From the notion of an order that must be obeyed, the word broadened into the modern adjective meaning 'urgently necessary'. The very same imperare lies behind 'emperor' and 'empire', a useful reminder that the spelling keeps the single 'm' and the 'per' of 'command', not 'pre'.

How the word is built

• imper- (from imperare: to command)
• -ative (adjective/noun suffix)