It's the Word of the Day for February 7th.

Today's word is imbue, spelled I-M-B-U-E.

I-M-B-U-E is a verb. It has two common meanings, to permeate or influence as if by dying, as in to change the

color of something with a dye, and to provide with something freely or naturally. In the second use,

it's usually followed by the word with. Here's the word used in the sentence from the New York

Times. Aged Kashasa, like

fine whiskey, derives its complexity from the barrels it's matured in. There are dozens of

different Brazilian woods Kashasa can be aged in, and each imbues the spirit with its distinct

flavor, resulting in varieties that are more floral or herbal, nutty or woody, savory, or spiced.

Like its synonym, the word infuse, imbue implies the introduction of one thing into another, so as to affect it throughout.

Someone's voice can be imbued with pride,

for example, or a photograph might be imbued with a sense of melancholy. In the past,

imbue was also used synonymously with the word imbrew, I-M-B-R-U-E, an obscure word, meaning to drench

or stain, but the two words are likely unrelated.

Mbue comes from the Latin verb imbure, meaning to die, wet, or moisten, while imbrew has been traced

back through Anglo-French and Old French to the Latin verb Biberi, meaning to drink.

With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.

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