(1) To establish or apply as a charge or penalty or in a forceful or harmful way. (2) To take unfair advantage.

The Latin *imposui* meant “put upon,” and that meaning carried over into English in *impose*. A CEO may impose a new manager on one of the company's plants. A state may impose new taxes on luxury items or cigarettes, and the federal government sometimes imposes trade restrictions on another country to punish it. A polite apology might begin with “I hope I'm not imposing on you” (that is, “forcing my presence on you”). And a *self- imposed* deadline is one that you decide to hold yourself to.

To place side by side.

Since *juxta* means “near” in Latin, it's easy to see how *juxtapose* was formed. Juxtaposing is generally done for examination or effect. Interior designers constantly make decisions about juxtaposing objects and colors for the best effect. Juxtaposing two video clips showing the different things that a politician said about the same subject at two different times can be an effective means of criticizing. The *juxtaposition* of two similar X-rays can help medical students distinguish between two conditions that may be hard to tell apart. And advertisements frequently juxtapose “before” and “after” images to show a thrilling transformation.

(1) To change the position or order of (two things). (2) To move from one place or period to another.

Though transposing two digits can be disastrous, transposing two letters in a word often doesn't matter too much. (You can prboalby raed tihs setnence witohut too mcuh toruble.) Transposing two words or sounds—as in “Can I sew you to another sheet?”—has been a good source of humor over the years. Doctors sometimes discover that something in the body—a nerve, an organ, etc.—has been transposed, or moved away from its proper place. For musicians, transposing means changing the key of a piece; if you can do this at a moment's notice, you've been well trained.

To put or place one thing over something else.

*Superimposition* was one of the magical effects employed by early filmmakers. Using “mirror shots,” with semitransparent mirrors set at 45° angles to the scene, they would superimpose shadowy images of ghosts or scenes from a character's past onto scenes from the present. Superimposing your own ideas on something, such as a historical event, has to be done carefully, since your ideas may change whenever you learn something new about the event.

(1) The amount of time that a person holds a job, office, or title. (2) The right to keep a job, especially the job of teacher or professor.

Tenure is about holding on to something, almost always a job or position. So you can speak of someone's 30-year tenure as chairman, or someone's brief tenure in the sales manager's office. But *tenure* means something slightly different in the academic world. In American colleges and universities, the best (or luckiest) teachers have traditionally been granted a lifetime appointment known as tenure after about six years of teaching. Almost nobody has as secure a job as a *tenured* professor, but getting tenure can be difficult, and most of them have earned it.

Stubborn or determined in clinging to something.

Success in most fields requires a tenacious spirit and a drive to achieve. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the entertainment business. Thousands of actors and actresses work *tenaciously* to build a TV or film career. But without talent or beauty, *tenacity* is rarely rewarded, and only a few become stars.

Capable of being held or defended; reasonable.

*Tenable* means “holdable.” In the past it was often used in a physical sense— for example, to refer to a city that an army was trying to “hold” militarily against an enemy force. But nowadays it's almost always used when speaking of “held” ideas and theories. If you hold an opinion but evidence appears that completely contradicts it, your opinion is no longer tenable. So, for example, the old ideas that cancer is infectious or that being bled by leeches can cure your whooping cough now seem *untenable*.

A widely held principle or belief, especially one held in common by members of a group or profession.

A *tenet* is something we hold, but not with our hands. Tenets are often ideals, but also often statements of faith. Thus, we may speak of the tenets of Islam or Hinduism, the tenets of Western democracy, or the tenets of the scientific method, and in each case these tenets may combine elements of both faith and ideals.