imm-

See also: imm and Imm

Old Irish

Alternative forms

• imb-
• imme- (in relative verb forms)

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *ambi-, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂m̥bʰi.

Prefix

imm-

1. around, about

   ‎imm- (“around”) + ‎soïd (“to turn”) → ‎imm·soí (“to turn around”)

   ‎imm- (“around”) + ‎téit (“to go”) → ‎imm·tét (“to go around”)

   ‎imm- + ‎aigid (“drive”) → ‎imm·aig (“drive [someone else] around”)

   ‎imm- + ‎beirid (“to carry”) → ‎imm·beir (“to play”, literally “carry around”)

2. intensive prefix for adjectives and nouns: very, super-

   ‎imm- (“very”) + ‎ecal (“fearful”) → ‎immecal (“very fearful”)

   ‎imm- (“very”) + ‎lobur (“sick person”) → ‎imlobor (“a very sick person”)

Derived terms

Old Irish terms prefixed with imm-

• imma

Related terms

• imb (“around, about”, preposition)

Descendants

• Irish: im-

Further reading

• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “imb”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language