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im·prest

(ĭm-prĕst)

An advance or a loan of funds, especially for services rendered to a government.

[From obsolete Italian impresto, loan, from past participle of imprestare, to lend : in-, toward (from Latin; see IN-²) + prestare, to lend (from Latin praestāre, to give, from praestō, at hand; see ghes- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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