Imp vs Goblin - What's the difference?

As nouns the difference between imp and goblin

is that imp is a young shoot of a plant, tree etc while goblin is a mythical malevolent phantom or grotesque diminutive humanoid; a kobold.

As initialisms the difference between imp and goblin

is that imp is inosine monophosphate while GOBLin is Gospel Oak to Barking Line, a railway line in north London.

As a verb imp

is to plant or engraft.

imp

English

Noun

(en noun)

(obsolete) A young shoot of a plant, tree etc.

* Sir Orfeo , 69:

Þai sett hem doun al þre / Vnder a fair ympe-tre.

(obsolete) A scion, offspring; a child.

* 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene I.3:

And thou most dreaded impe of highest Ioue'', / Faire ''Venus sonne, [...] come to mine ayde [...].

* Fairfax

The tender imp was weaned.

A young or inferior devil; a malevolent supernatural creature, similar to a demon but smaller and less powerful.

* Beattie

to mingle in the clamorous fray of squabbling imps

A mischievous child.

* 1908 ,

I've left my young children to look after themselves, and a more mischievous and troublesome set of young imps doesn't exist...

(UK, dialect, obsolete) Something added to, or united with, another, to lengthen it out or repair it, such as an addition to a beehive; a feather inserted in a broken wing of a bird; or a length of twisted hair in a fishing line.

Synonyms

* (mischievous child) brat, urchin, little dickens

Derived terms

* impish * implike

Verb

(en verb)

(obsolete) To plant or engraft.

(archaic) To graft, implant; to set or fix.

*1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , IV.9:

*:That headlesse tyrants tronke he reard from ground, / And, having ympt the head to it agayne, / Upon his usuall beast it firmely bound, / And made it so to ride as it alive was found.

(falconry) To engraft feathers into a bird's wing.

"For, if I imp my wing on Thine" – Herbert (1633)

To eke out, strengthen, enlarge.

Anagrams

* (l) * (l) * (l)

goblin

English

(wikipedia goblin)

Noun

(en noun)

(fantasy literature) A mythical malevolent phantom or grotesque diminutive humanoid; a kobold.

* 1872', , ''The Princess and the '''Goblin , page 50,

* 2006 , Charlotte Bishop, Norty: The Chosen Ones , page 187,

At last the goblins' had a chance to rid themselves of one of the troublesome defenders, and two ' goblin warriors snatched the opportunity.

* 2010 , Thom L. Nichols, War: Return of the Elves , Part 1, page 37,

The goblin shifted the two younger ones closer to him. It looked like he was hiding behind them, using them as a shield.

The goblin looked pure evil. His eyes were brown.

* 2010', D. S. Macleod, ''The Middle Times: Rise of the '''Goblin King , page 229,

I shall send another entourage of goblins' back here to Desput with the '''goblins'''’ new ally the Pixy! These creatures deserve the same respect as any other ' goblin .

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=76, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Snakes and ladders , passage=Risk is everywhere. From tabloid headlines insisting that coffee causes cancer (yesterday, of course, it cured it) to stern government warnings about alcohol and driving, the world is teeming with goblins . For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you.}}