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To importune someone is to keep asking them for something, again and again, in a way that is or not reasonable. It is the verb that sits beside importunate. The word is formal. Most people would say pester, nag, or keep bothering. You may see it in news about people stopping strangers in the street, or in older books about begging and favours. Though actually, it has nothing to do with import (bringing goods into a country). It comes from French importuner and Latin importū, “unfit, ,” originally “having no harbour” — nowhere safe to rest — which grew into the idea of being a nuisance. You do not need that story to use the word, but it stops you inventing a false link with trade.
糾纏、不斷央求
組成From Middle French importuner, from Latin importūnus (“unfit, troublesome”), originally “having no harbour.”
同家族的字
- importunatethe adjective for a person who asks this way
- importunitythe noun for this kind of asking
原始詞典資料8 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
importuneverb詞源 1/ɪmpɔːˈtjuːn/
- 1
To bother, irritate, trouble.
- To deliberate, be it but in slight matters, doth importune me.
- But I will no longer importune my young cousin.
- 2
To harass with persistent requests.
- Gentlemen, importune me no farther, / For hovv I firmly am reſolu'd you knovv: / That is, not to beſtovv my yongeſt daughter, / Before I haue a husband for the elder: […]
- You were kneel'd to, & importun'd otherwiſe / By all of vs; […]
- 3
To approach to offer one's services as a prostitute, or otherwise make improper proposals.
- 4
obsoleteTo import; to signify.
- It importunes death.
importuneadj詞源 2/ɪmpɔːˈtjuːn/
- 1
obsoleteGrievous, severe, exacting.
- And therewithall he fiercely at him flew, / And with importune outrage him assayld [...].
- 2
obsoleteInopportune; unseasonable.
- 3
obsoleteTroublesome; vexatious; persistent.
- And their importune fates all satisfide.
- Of all other affections it [envy] is the most importune and continual.
importunenoun詞源 2/ɪmpɔːˈtjuːn/
- 1
obsoleteSynonym of importuner.
- And yet in ſome Courts it is otherwiſe vſed, for in Spaine it is thought very vndecent for a Courtier to craue, ſuppoſing that it is the part of an importune: […]
- Which ſhew that importunate People will affirm any Thing, to ſerve Turns, though never fo ſenſeleſs; hoping ſome, that underſtand little, or are very willing, will give credit upon their Authority: And, if Juſtice muſt ſtay till ſuch Importunes are ſatisfied, there’s a ne plus ultra of all Law.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。