Impost - Definitions from Dictionary.com

6 results for: Impost

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

im·post1

–noun

1.	a tax; tribute; duty.

2.	a customs duty.

3.	Horse Racing. the weight assigned to a horse in a race.

–verb (used with object)

4.	to determine customs duties on, according to the kind of imports.

[Origin: 1560–70; < ML impostus a tax, n. use of L impostus, var. of impositus imposed; see imposition

]

—Related forms

im·post·er, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Impost

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

im·post2

Audio Help [im-pohst] Pronunciation Key

–noun Architecture.

1.	the point of springing of an arch; spring.

2.	an architectural feature immediately beneath this point.

[Origin: 1655–65; < F imposte < It imposta < L: fem. of impostus (ptp.); see impost¹

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

im·post¹ Audio Help (ĭm'pōst') Pronunciation Key
n.

Something, such as a tax or duty, that is imposed.
Sports The weight a horse must carry in a handicap race.

[Obsolete French, from Old French, from Medieval Latin impostum, from Latin, neuter of impostus, variant of impositus, past participle of impōnere, to place upon; see impose.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

im·post² Audio Help (ĭm'pōst') Pronunciation Key
n. The uppermost part of a column or pillar supporting an arch.

[French imposte, from Italian imposta, from Latin, feminine past participle of impōnere, to place upon; see impose.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

impost
noun
1.	money collected under a tariff [syn: customs]
2.	the lowest stone in an arch -- from which it springs [syn: springer]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Impost

Con*tin"u*ous\, a. [L. continuus, fr. continere to hold together. See Continent.]

1. Without break, cessation, or interruption; without intervening space or time; uninterrupted; unbroken; continual; unceasing; constant; continued; protracted; extended; as, a continuous line of railroad; a continuous current of electricity.

he can hear its continuous murmur. --Longfellow.

2. (Bot.) Not deviating or varying from uninformity; not interrupted; not joined or articulated.

Continuous brake (Railroad), a brake which is attached to each car a train, and can be caused to operate in all the cars simultaneously from a point on any car or on the engine.

Continuous impost. See Impost.

Syn: Continuous, Continual.

Usage: Continuous is the stronger word, and denotes that the continuity or union of parts is absolute and uninterrupted; as, a continuous sheet of ice; a continuous flow of water or of argument. So Daniel Webster speaks of "a continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England." Continual, in most cases, marks a close and unbroken succession of things, rather than absolute continuity. Thus we speak of continual showers, implying a repetition with occasional interruptions; we speak of a person as liable to continual calls, or as subject to continual applications for aid, etc. See Constant.

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