Imp
Old English impa, impe ‘young shoot, scion’, impian ‘to graft’, based on Greek emphuein ‘to implant’. In late Middle English, the noun denoted a descendant, especially of a noble family, and later a child of the devil or a person regarded as such; hence a ‘little devil’ or mischievous child (early 17th century).
wiktionary
From Middle English impen, ympen(“to plant; (figuratively) to bury; to graft; to add to, insert, put into, set in; to mend (a falcon’s feather) by attaching a new feather on to the broken stump”), [1] from Old English impian, ġeimpian(“to graft”), from Proto-West Germanic *impōn(“to graft”), from Vulgar Latin *imputō(“to graft”), from Ancient Greek ἔμφῠτος(émphutos, “implanted; planted”), from ἐμφῠ́ω(emphúō, “to implant”) (from ἐν-(en-, prefix meaning ‘in’) + φῠ́ω(phúō, “to bring forth, produce; to grow”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-(“to appear; to become; to grow”))) + -τος(-tos). [2]
From Middle English impe, ympe(“tree branch; shoot, sprig; graft, scion; young tree, sapling, seedling; tree”)[and other forms], [3] from Old English impa, impe(“shoot, sprig; graft, scion; young tree, sapling, seedling”), from impian, ġeimpian(“to graft”) (see etymology 1). [4]
etymonline
imp (n.)
Old English impe, impa "young shoot, graft," from impian "to graft," probably an early Germanic borrowing from Vulgar Latin *imptus, from Late Latin impotus "implanted," from Greek emphytos, verbal adjective formed from emphyein "implant," from em- "in" + phyein "to bring forth, make grow," from PIE root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow." Compare Swedish ymp, Danish ympe "graft."
The sense of the word has shifted from plants to people, via the meaning "child, offspring" (late 14c., now obsolete), from the notion of "newness." The current meaning "little devil" is attested from 1580s, from common pejorative phrases such as imp of Satan. The extension from this to "mischievous or pert child" (1640s) unconsciously turns the word back toward its Middle English sense.
Suche appereth as aungelles, but in very dede they be ymps of serpentes. [Wynkyn de Worde, "The Pilgrimage of Perfection," 1526]
