importune

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Origin: F. importun, L. importunus; pref. im- not + a derivative from the root of portus harbor, importunus therefore orig. meaning, hard of access. See Port harbor, and cf. Importunate.

1. Inopportune; unseasonable. obsolete

2. Troublesome; vexatious; persistent; urgent; hence, vexatious on account of untimely urgency or pertinacious solicitation. obsolete

And their importune fates all satisfied.— Edmund Spenser

Of all other affections it [envy] is the most importune and continual.— Francis, Baron Verulam Bacon

Origin: From Importune, adjective: cf. F. importuner.

1. To request or solicit, with urgency; to press with frequent, unreasonable, or troublesome application or pertinacity; hence, to tease; to irritate; to worry.

Their ministers and residents here have perpetually importuned the court with unreasonable demands.— Jonathan Swift

2. To import; to signify. obsolete “It importunes death.” Edmund Spenser

To require; to demand. obsolete

We shall write to you, As time and our concernings shall importune.— William Shakespeare

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54