impose

verb

1. (archaic, transitive)To physically lay or place (something) on another thing; to deposit, to put, to set.

   “[H]is Svvaine / Strevv'd faire greene Oſiers; and impoſ'd thereon / A good ſoft Sheepeskin, vvhich made him a Throne.”

   “It vvas here likevviſe, in a place vvhere the diſtance betvveen the oppoſite banks cannot exceed five hundred paces, that Xerxes impoſed a ſtupendous bridge of boats, for the purpoſe of tranſporting into Europe an hundred and ſeventy myriads of barbarians.”

2. (archaic, transitive)To physically lay or place (something) on another thing; to deposit, to put, to set.

   “[Jesus] ſaid to them, Suffer the litle children to come vnto me, and prohibit them not, for the kingdom of God is for ſuch. […] And embracing them, and impoſing hands vpon them, he bleſſed them.”

   “[W]hen Iſraell bleſſed Ephraim and Manaſſes Ioſephs ſonnes, hee impoſed vpon them his hands and prayed, […]”

   “[T]hat the Apoſtolate might be ſucceſſive and perpetuall, Chriſt gave them a povver of ordination, that by impoſing hands on others they might impart that povver vvhich they receiued from Chriſt.”

3. (archaic, transitive)To physically lay or place (something) on another thing; to deposit, to put, to set.

   “They [pages] are imposed as follows, the illustration showing how the pages appear in the form. […] 18, 24, 32, and 48mo may be imposed in a similar manner, or may be so imposed as to be cut before folding.”

4. (figuratively, transitive)To apply, enforce, or establish (something, often regarded as burdensome as a restriction or tax: see verb sense 1.2.2) with authority.

   “Congress imposed new tariffs.”

   “Sanctions were imposed on the country that had made an unprovoked attack on its neighbour.”

   “In crueltie and outrage ſhe did pas, / To proue her ſurname true, that ſhe impoſed has.”

   “Great alſo is the glorie of thoſe Britans, […] For they not only ſeated themſelves, there maugre the Romans, (then indeede lovv, and neare ſetting,) and the French: but alſo impoſed their name to the countrey, held an defended the ſame againſt the French, vntill in our grandfathers memorie, it vvas vnited to France by the ſacred bonds of matrimonie.”

   “Thou on the deep impoſeſt Nobler lavvs, / And by that Juſtice haſt remov'd the cauſe / Of thoſe rude tempeſts vvhich for rapine ſent, / Too oft, alas, involv'd the innocent.”

5. (figuratively, transitive)To place or put (something chiefly immaterial, especially something regarded as burdensome as a duty, an encumbrance, a penalty, etc.) on another thing or on someone; to inflict, to repose; also, to place or put (on someone a chiefly immaterial thing, especially something regarded as burdensome).

   “Social relations impose courtesy.”

   “[T]he courtier that proceeds in his matters, rather with oppinion and obſtinacy, then diſcretion and iudgement; ſhall neuer bee in fauor with the Prince, nor yet beeloued in the court. For it is as neceſſary for the courtier, that will ſeeke the fauor of the prince and loue of the court, to impoſe his tongue to ſylence: as it is to dyſpoſe his body to all maner of ſeruyce.”

   “VVhat Fates impoſe, that men muſt needs abide; / It boots not to reſiſt both vvinde and tide.”

   “Behold the vvindovv of my hart, mine eye: / VVhat humble ſuite attendes thy anſvvere there, / Impoſe ſome ſeruice on me for thy Loue.”

   “Yet I muſt ſpeake, chooſe your reuenge your ſelfe, / Impoſe me to vvhat penance your inuention / Can lay vpon my ſinne, yet ſinnd I not, / But in miſtaking.”

6. (figuratively, transitive)To force or put (a thing) on someone or something by deceit or stealth; to foist, to obtrude.

   “I went to visite Mr. Ratcliffe, in whose lodging was an impostor that had like to have impos'd upon us a pretended secret of multiplying gold; 'tis certain he had liv'd some time in Paris in extraordinarie splendor, but I found him to be an egregious cheate.”

7. (UK, figuratively, transitive)To subject (a student) to imposition (“a task inflicted as punishment”).
8. (archaic, figuratively, obsolete, transitive)To appoint (someone) to be in authority or command over other people.
9. (figuratively, obsolete, transitive)To accuse someone of (a crime, or a sin or other wrongdoing); to charge, to impute.

   “So, if a Sonne that is by his Father ſent about Merchandize, doe ſinfully miſcarry vpon the Sea; the imputation of his vvickedneſſe, by your rule, ſhould be impoſed vpon his Father that ſent him: […]”

   “On him the King (in madneſſe ſo enrag'd) / Impoſde my death, himſelfe thereto that gag'd.”

   “Thou falſely impoſeſt a capital crime upon him [Jesus], namely, that he made himſelf a King, whereas he never uſed any royal ornaments, according to the pomp of this world.”

10. (figuratively, obsolete, transitive)To put (a conclusion or end) to something definitively.

    “[G]uards vvere held, at all parts, dayes and nights, / For feare of falſe ſurpriſe before, they had impoſde the crovvne / To theſe ſolemnities.”

11. (intransitive)Chiefly followed by on or upon.

    “But it is not onely the Difficultie, and Labour, vvhich Men take in finding out of Truth; nor againe, that vvhen it is found, it impoſeth vpon mens Thoughts; that doth bring Lies in fauour: But a naturall, though corrupt Loue, of the Lie it ſelfe.”

    “But I perceive they do think that I know too much, and shall impose upon whomever shall come next, and therefore must be removed, […]”

    “From no task Thou, Creator, imposedst! Creation / Revealed me no object, from insect to Man, / But bore Thy hand's impress: […]”

12. (intransitive)Chiefly followed by on or upon.

    “I don’t wish to impose upon you.”

    “[T]hey do not rob the King of any right he ever had, for he never had a power to do hurt to his people, nor would exercise it: and therefore there is no danger, in the passing this Bill, of imposing on his prerogative; […]”

    “Your character was unfolded in the recital which I received many months ago from Mr. Wickham. On this subject, what can you have to say? In what imaginary act of friendship can you here defend yourself? or under what misrepresentation can you here impose upon others?"”

    “In the same year as the Furness objection, sadder tidings befell St Pancras Priory at Lewes, in East Sussex. Despite it having the distinction of being the earliest Cluniac monastery in Great Britain, petitions to prevent the Brighton Lewes & Hastings Railway from imposing on its site with its Lewes line failed. The line was approved and, as if as an act of deliberate desecration and assertion of the railways' power, passed over the site of the high altar.”

13. (intransitive)Chiefly followed by on or upon.

    “Know, that thou imposedst upon my sire and deceivedst him by dint of thy deluding vaunts, so that of his greed for gain he married me to thee.”

14. (intransitive, obsolete)Chiefly followed by on or upon.

    “To impoſe upon all things brought into the Kin[g]dome is very ancient: vvhich impoſing vvhen it hath been continued a certain time, is them called Cuſtomes, becauſe the ſubjects are accuſtomed to pay it, and yet the great taxe upon vvine is ſtill called Impoſt, becauſe it vvas impoſed after the ordinary rate of payment, had laſted many years.”

    “[W]hoso rhymes a sonnet pays a tax, / Who paints a landscape dips brush at his cost, / Who scores a septett true for strings and wind / Mulcted must be—else how should I impose / Properly, attitudinize aright, / Did such conflicting claims as these divert / Hohenstiel-Schwangau from observing me?”

noun

1. (obsolete)An act of placing or putting on something chiefly immaterial, especially something regarded as burdensome as a duty, a task, etc.; an imposition.

   “According to your Ladiſhips impoſe, / I am thus early come, to knovv vvhat ſeruice / It is your pleaſure to command me in.”