importunity
/ˌɪmpəɹˈt(j)unɪti/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.43 in modern English
18
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
5
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Constant and insistent demanding or proposing, especially if regarded as annoying or upsetting; also, the character of such behaviour; (countable) an instance of this.
Uncountable
noun
The fact of being at an inappropriate or unsuitable time; unseasonableness.
Obsolete; Uncountable
noun
The quality of being annoying or troublesome; difficulty, trouble; (countable) an instance of this.
Obsolete; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "And he [Jesus] ſayde vnto thẽ [them]: which of you ſhall have a frende and ſhall goo to hym att mydnyght⸝ and ſaye vnto hym: frende lende me foure loves for a frende of myne is come out off the waye to me⸝ and I have nothynge to ſett before hĩ [him]⸝ And he within ſhall andſwer and ſaye: Trouble me nott⸝ nowe is the doore ſhett⸝ and my ſervaunttꝭ [servaunttis, i.e., servants] are with me in the chamber⸝ I cannot ryſe and geve thẽ to the [them to thee]. I ſaye vnto you: though he woll not aryſe and geve hym⸝ becauſe he is his frende: Yet becauſe of hys importunitie he woll ryſe and geve him as many as he nedeth."
- "Of a ſuretie, it is a ioyfull thynge to reioyce in the chyldhode of chyldren, but it is a ryght cruel thing to ſuffre the importunities of their mothers."
- "Then vvay vvhat loſſe your honor may ſuſtaine / If vvith too credent eare you liſt his ſongs / Or looſe your hart, or your chaſt treaſure open / To his vnmaſtred importunity."
- "[W]ith much importunitie and promiſe of revvard (it being a matter of danger) I got them to ſet me aſhore."
- "The truth of my Third Accuſation is confeſt, but the guilt, not acknovvledged; ſince that vvhich excites men to endleſs bavvlings, and altercations; Schiſms, Hereſies and Rebellions, by the vehemencies of Diſpute, is it ſeems vvith our Author no more noxious and criminal, then the Sun that ſtirrs men up to their vvork in the morning, by the importunity of it's beams."
- "For if through Importunity, a poor VVidovv-vvoman may prevail vvith an unjuſt Judge; and ſo conſequently vvith an unmerciful and hard-hearted Tyrant, hovv much more ſhall the poor, afflicted, diſtreſſed, and tempted People of God, prevail vvith, and obtain Mercy at the Hands of a loving, juſt, and merciful God?"
Etymology
From Late Middle English importunitie, importunyte (“insistence, persistence; grievance; hardship, trouble; inappropriateness (?)”), from Anglo-Norman importunité, and Middle French importunité (“persistent demand; hardship, trouble; something difficult or troublesome; inappropriateness”) (modern French importunité), and their etymon Latin importūnitās (“insolence, rudeness; oppressiveness, relentlessness; unfitness, unsuitableness”), from importūnus (“annoying; rude; inconvenient; unsuitable”) + -tās (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns denoting states of being). Importūnus is derived from im- (a variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + portus (“harbour, port; haven, refuge”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pértus (“crossing”), from *per- (“to carry forth, fare; to dare, try; to go through;”)) + -nus (suffix forming adjectives). By surface analysis, importune + -ity (suffix forming abstract nouns from adjectives, referring to the state of conforming to what the adjectives describe).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *per-, importunitie,importunyte, importunité, importūnitās, *pértus
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌɪmpəɹˈt(j)unɪti/
- British English: /ˌɪmpəˈtjuːnɪti/