Implement

How to spell implement

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce implement

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does implement mean?

1. nounA tool, utensil, or piece of equipment used to carry out a particular task.
2. verbTo put a decision, plan, or system into practical effect.

Implement in a sentence

• noun

  The gardener cleaned every implement before storing it in the shed.

• verb

  The board agreed to implement the new pricing policy next quarter.

• noun

  A sharp chisel is the right implement for that delicate carving.

• verb

  Managers were trained to implement the updated safety procedures.

Where does implement come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Late Latin implementum, meaning 'a filling up' or 'something that fills a need', built on the verb implere, 'to fill in' or 'to complete', which joins in- 'in' with plere 'to fill'. That same plere root gives us 'complete', 'replete' and 'plenty', all carrying the idea of fullness. English borrowed implement in the 1400s, at first in the plural for household goods and articles needed to furnish or stock a place, the things that 'filled out' a household. From the sense of useful articles it narrowed to mean a tool or instrument for a task. The verb, meaning to carry a plan into full effect, grew from the same notion of completing or fulfilling and became common from the nineteenth century. The single l and the unstressed middle vowel, written as a faint 'e' in -ple-, are the spots where writers slip.

How the word is built

• im- (in/into, from in-)
• ple (fill, from Latin plere)
• -ment (noun suffix; here also reused as a verb)