a tool or piece of equipment used for a particular purpose
The farmer repaired the broken implement before returning to the field.
A toothbrush is a simple implement for keeping teeth clean.
✦ From Latin 'implementum' meaning 'filling up, fulfillment', later 'tool, equipment', from the verb 'implere' ‘to fill’.
to put a plan, decision, or system into action
The school will implement the new dress code next semester.
After months of planning, the city finally implemented the recycling program.
✦ Extended from the noun sense; first used as a verb in the mid-19th century, meaning ‘to put something into effect’.
the act of putting a plan, decision, or system into action so that it operates in the real world
The implementation of the new recycling program began last month.
Successful implementation requires careful planning and training.
✦ from implement + -ation; implement traces back to Latin implēre “to fill, accomplish”
a specific version or way of carrying out a design, idea, or technical specification, especially in computing
The open-source library is just one implementation of the algorithm.
Each smartphone brand has its own implementation of the Android operating system.
✦ Same origin as other sense: implement + -ation; technical sense arose in 20th-century computing.
