imp

The word "imp" began its journey in horticulture, not demonology. It entered Old English from Late Latin, carrying the meaning of a "young shoot" grafted onto a plant. This botanical sense of a "scion" or "offspring" was metaphorically applied to a child. By the medieval period, the term took a darker turn, influenced by folklore and religious texts, where it came to signify a "child of the devil." Over time, the emphasis shifted from lineage to behavior, settling on its modern meaning of a small, mischievous, and often supernatural troublemaker, or by extension, a naughty child.

The word "imp" is a simplex word. It is a loanword from Old English impa or impe, meaning "a young shoot or scion," later "child," and ultimately "offspring of the devil." Its ultimate origin is from Late Latin impotus, meaning "graft, shoot," from Greek emphytos, "implanted," from en- "in" + phyton "plant."