imponit

Imponit is a Latin verb form meaning “he imposes” or “he places on.” It is the third-person singular present active indicative of imponere, the verb meaning “to place upon” or “to impose.” The prefix in- is the assimilated form of in- before p, yielding imponere as the base. The infinitive is imponere; the first-person singular present active is impono. Other present-tense forms include imponis (you place on), imponimus (we place on), imponitis (you all place on), and imponunt (they place on). The perfect indicative is imposuit, and the supine/ past participle is impositus.

In use, imponit takes a direct object in the accusative to denote what is being placed or imposed. The action can refer to laws, taxes, penalties, duties, or burdens. For example, in classical Latin: Senatus legem imponit (The senate imposes a law). Poena imponit tribuno (The tribune imposes a penalty) demonstrates how imponere is employed in legal and political contexts. The verb also appears in passive or semi-passive constructions, such as poena imponitur (a penalty is imposed).

Etymologically, imponere combines the prefix in- with ponere (to place), with im- before p. The root ponere survives in many Romance languages: Italian imporre, Spanish imponer, French imposer, all tracing back to Latin imponere.

Imponit is part of a broader semantic field in Latin related to establishing obligations, duties, or charges upon persons or groups, and it remains a standard example of how prefixes modify base verbs to express “placing onto” or “imposing.”