IMA 
imagination feigned and at pleafure, as if one fliould ima¬ 
gine I'uch a man to be in the veftmeiits of a pope, or to 
have wings. Bacon. 
O whither Ihall I run, or which way fly 
The fight of this fo horrid Ipeftacle, 
Which erft my eyes beheld, and yet behold ! 
For dire imagination ftiil purfues me. Milton. 
Conception ; image in the mind ; idea.—Sometimes de- 
fpair darkens all her imagination ; feme times' the aclive 
palfion of love cheers and clears her invention. Sidney. 
Princes have but their titles for their glories, 
An outward honour for an inward toil; 
And, for unfelt imaginations. 
They often feel a world of reftlefs cares. Shakefpeare. 
Contrivance; fcheme.—Thou haft feen all theirvengeance, 
and aJl their imaginations againft me. Lam. iii. 60.—An 
unfolid or fanciful opinion.—We are apt to think that 
fpace, in itfelf, is actually boundlefs; to which imagina¬ 
tion, the idea of fpace, of itfelf, leads us. Locke. 
IMAGINATIVE, adj. Fantaftic; full of imagination. 
—Tay fetters and reilraints upon the imaginative and fan¬ 
taftic part, becaufe our fancy is ufually pleafed with the 
entertainment of fhadows and gauds. Taylor. 
IMAGINATIVENESS,/ Fantafticalnefs; fufpiciouf- 
nefs, jealoufy. Scott. 
To IMAGINE, v. a. [imaginer, Fr . imaginor, Lat.] To 
fancy; to paint in the mind.—What are our ideas of eter¬ 
nity and immenfity, but the repeated additions of certain 
ideas of imagined parts of duration and expanfion, with 
the infinity of number, in which we can come to no end 
of addition? Locke. 
Look what notes and garments he doth give thee, 
Bring them, I pray thee, with imagin'd fpeed. Shakefpeare. 
To fcheme ; to contrive—They intended evil againft thee, 
they imagined a mifehievous device. Pfalm xxi. n. 
IMAGINER, / One who forms ideas.—The juggler 
took upon him to know that fuch an one Ihould point in 
fuch a place of a garter that was held up; and ftill he did 
it, by firft telling the imaginer, and after bidding the aftor 
think. Bacon. 
IMAGINES,//;/. [With the Romans.] The images 
of anceftors. Scott. 
IMAGINING, / The aft of forming in the imagi¬ 
nation. 
IMAGLIN, a fmall ifiand in the ftraits between the 
tveftem coaft of America and the eaft point of Ruflia. 
Lat. 65. 40. N. Ion. 207. 30. E. Ferro. 
IMA'GNA, (Vale of), in Italy, fo called from the ri¬ 
vulet Imagna ; containing nineteen parilhes, and 13,000 
inhabitants. 
IMAGO, / In natural hiftory, is a name given by 
Linnaeus to the third ftate of infefts, when they appear in 
their proper Ihape and colours, and undergo no more 
transformation. See Entomology, vol. vi. 
I'MAM, oi Iman, aminifterin the Mahometan church, 
anfwering to a parifli prielt among us. The word pro¬ 
perly fignifies what we call a prelate, antijlcs, one who pre- 
iides over others; but the MuflTulmen frequently apply it 
to a perfon who has the care and intendancy of a mofque, 
•who is always there at firft, and reads prayers to the peo¬ 
ple, \vhich they repeat after him. 
Imam is alfo applied, by way of excellence, to the four 
chiefs or founders of the four principal lefts in the Ma¬ 
hometan religion. But the Mahometans do not agree 
among themlelves about this imamate, or dignity of the 
imam. Some think it of divine right, and attached to a 
Angle family, as the pontificate of Aaron. Others hold, 
that it is indeed of divine right, but deny it to be lo at¬ 
tached to any lingle family, as that it may not be tranf- 
ferred to another. They add, that the imam is to be clear 
o,f all grofs fins ; and that otherwife he may be depofed, 
Vol. X. No. 744. 
I’M B S53 
and his dignity may be conferred on another. However 
this be, it is certain, that, after an imam has once been 
owned as fuch by the Muifulmen, he who denies that his 
authority comes immediately from God is accounted im¬ 
pious,; he who does not obey him is a rebel; and he who 
pretends to contradift what he fays is efteemed a fool, 
ainongthe orthodox of that religion. The imams, however, 
have no outward mark of diftinftion ; their habit is the 
fame with that of the Turks in common, except that the 
turban is a little larger, and folded foimewhat differently. 
IM'AUS, in ancient geography, the largeft mountain 
of Alia (Strabo); and a part of Taurus (Pliny); from 
which the whole of India runs off into a vaft plain, re- 
fembling Egypt. It extends far and wide through Scy¬ 
thia, as far as to the Mare Glaciaie, dividing it info the 
Hither, or Scythia inlra lmaum , and into the Farther, or 
Scythia extra lmaum, (Ptolemy;) and alfo ftretchiiig out 
along the north of India to the eaftern ocean, feparates it 
from Scythia. It had various names according to the dif¬ 
ferent countries it run through: Poltellus -thinks it is the- 
Sef>/tar of Scripture. 
To IMBA'LM, v. a. To embalm. 
To IM'BANK, v. a. To indole with a bank, to keep 
up with banks. 
IMBANK/ING,/ The aft of inclofing with banks. 
IMBANK'MENT, / [from imbank.~\ That which is 
inclofed with a bank ; the bank that inclofes. 
IMBARGO,/ An embargo. Scott. 
To IM'BARK, v. a. To embark. Scott. 
IMBARK'ATION, f. An embarkation. Scott. 
To IM'BASE, v. a. To embafe. 
To IM'BATTLE, v. a. To embattle. Scott. 
IMBEGILE, adj. [ imbecilis, Lat. imbecile, Fr.] Weak; 
feeble ; wanting ftrength of either mind or body. 
To IMBEGILE, v. a. [corruptly written embezzle . ] To 
weaken a ftock or fortune by clandeftine e.xpences or un¬ 
juft appropriations.—Princes mull in a fpeciai manner be 
guardians of pupils and widows, not fuffering their per- 
fons to be oppreffed, or their ftates imbeci/cd. Taylor. 
IMBEGILENESS, f. Imbecility, weaknefs. Scctt. 
IMBECIL'ITY, /' Weaknefs ; feeblenefs of mind or • 
body.—We that are ftrong inuft bear the imbecility of the 
impotent, and not pleafe ourlelves. Hooker. 
Strength would be lord of imbecility. 
And the rude fon would ftrikehis father dead. Shakefpeare., 
IMBEZ'ZLING,/. The aft of mifapplying money or 
effefts. 
To IM'BIBE, v. a. [ tmbibo , Lat. imbiber, Fr.] To drink 
in ; to draw in.—A pot of allies will receive more hot 
water than cold, forafinuch as the warm water imbibelk 
more of the fait. Brown. 
The torrent mercilefs imbibes 
Commiflions, perquifites, and bribes. Swift. 
To admit into the mind.—Thofe that have imbibed this er¬ 
ror, have extended the influence of this belief to the 
whole gofpel, which they will not allow to contain any 
thing but pro miles. Hammond. —To drench ; to faturate ; 
to foak.—This fenfe, though unufual, perhaps unexam¬ 
pled, is neceffary in Englilh, unlefs the word imbue be 
adopted, which our writers feem not willing to receive._ 
Metals, corroded with a little acid, turn into ruft, which 
is an earth taftelefs and indiffolvable in water ; and this 
earth, imbibed with more acid, becomes a metallic fait. 
Newton. 
IMBPBEMENT, / The aft of imbibing. Phillips. 
IMBI'BER, f. That which drinks or fucks.—Salts are 
ftrong imbibers of fulphureous fleams. Arbuthnot. 
IMBI'BING, /. The aft of drinking in. 
IMBIBJ'TION, / The aft of fucking or drinking in. 
—Moft powders grow more coherent by. mixture of water 
than of oil; the reafon is the congruity of bodies, which 
maketlv a peifefter. imbibition and incorporation. Bacon. 
to Ii ZV 
