The root is *იმერ(imer) suffixed with -ეთი(-eti). The root of the term goes back to ერი(eri), which is prefixed with იმ-(im-). Disassembled, the literal meaning of the word can be reconstructed as "the homeland of the nation on the other side", which implies that the exonym originated on the eastern side of the Likhi Range, which separates Imeretia from eastern Georgia.
