The action of imposing something unwelcome or unfair on someone. An unreasonable demand or burden placed on another person.
From Latin 'impositio' meaning 'a laying upon', from 'imponere' (to place upon). The sense evolved from physical placement to metaphorical burden-placing by the 14th century.
The word beautifully captures how unwanted obligations feel like physical weight - we still use spatial metaphors like 'burden' and 'load' when describing social and emotional pressures, showing how our minds understand abstract concepts through bodily experience.
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