impostume
UK/ɪmˈpɒstjuːm/
impostume noun: an abscess. Also the alternative form of imposthume.
Noun
impostume (plural impostumes)
- An abscess.
- The great impoſtume of the realme vvas dravvne / Euen to a head: the multitudinous ſpavvne / VVas the corruption, vvhich did make it ſvvell / VVith hop'd ſedition (the burnt ſeed of hell.)1603, [Thomas Dekker], 1603. The Wonderfull Yeare. […], London: […] by [J. Browne, Nicholas Ling, and John Smethwick for?] Thomas Creede, […], →OCLC, signature B3, recto
- Jaſon Phereus [Jason of Pherae] [was] utterly forſaken of all Phyſitians, by reaſon of an impoſtume he had in his breaſt […]1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes […], London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
Also used as
impostume is also the alternative form of imposthume.
Forms of impostume
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | impostumes |
| alternative form | imposthume |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | impostumes |
| present participle | impostuming |
| past participle | impostumed |
| past | impostumed |
Origin of impostume
From Old French empostume, alteration of apostume (“apostume, large abscess”), from Latin apostema, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστεμα (apóstema, “separation of pus into an abscess”).
Questions about impostume
- What does impostume mean?
- Impostume means an abscess.
- What part of speech is impostume?
- Impostume is a noun.
- How do you pronounce impostume?
- Impostume is pronounced /ɪmˈpɒstjuːm/ (UK).
- What is the plural of impostume?
- The plural of impostume is impostumes.
Words near impostume in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: impostume (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “impostume.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/impostume. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.