impart = to give a part or share/ to make known/ to tell

[Ivo]

Would you explain to me in plain English the meaning of the expression in bold in the following sentences?

He that hath two coats let him impart to him that hath none.

impart = to give a part or share

Only the chairman’s strong control was able to impart some sense of seriousness to the meeting.

The prisoner hoped, by imparting his companions 'hiding place to the police, to escape punishment on his own account.

Gentle lady, when I did first impart my love to you.

impart = to communicate the knowledge of; to make known; to show by words or tokens; to tell; to disclose

Thanks for your efforts.

[Cerberus]

What is it exactly that you don’t understand? You seem to have the right definition of the word and some decent quotes. Are you trying to sort the quotes according to the different meanings of the word? The boundaries between those meanings are usually a bit vague and they might not stand up to further scrutiny: in many cases, the usage may be somewhere in between, or part of several senses. For example, the word “to impart” means to share; when you communicate the knowledge of something, you basically share this knowledge, so the difference is hardly fundamental. If I had to make a division, I’d put the first two quotes together, since controlling a meeting is not exactly communicating knowledge to it.