impress

Impress, to affect strongly, is from Latin; impress, to force into service, was formed in English from in- and press.^[1][2][3]

impress¹ affect strongly

Pronunciation

• IPA: verb /ɪmˈpres/; noun /ˈɪm.pres/^[4]

Etymology

To affect strongly is inherited from Middle English enpressen, borrowed from Latin impressus, the past participle of imprimō (“to press into or upon, stamp”),^[1][2][3] from in- (“in, on”) and premō (“to press”) (see press),^[1][2] influenced by Old French empresser (“to press, crowd upon, print”).^[1][2][5] Hoad takes it from the French verb, formed from em- and presser.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make a permanent image in something: probably about 1370.^[1]

Semantic evolution

To have a strong effect on the mind or heart is from about 1385, in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde.^[1][2] The noun, a mark or stamp, is from 1590,^[1][3][6] and the act of stamping from 1592.^[6] A badge worn by retainers was an impress from the 1620s, from Italian impresa.^[2] Impression is from about 1380, in Chaucer,^[1] and impressionable and impressionist from the 19th century.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1370 – to make an image in.^[1]
• c. 1380 – impression.^[1]
• c. 1385 – to affect the mind.^[1]
• 1590 – an impress (noun).^[1][6]
• 1620s – a badge.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To affect strongly, often favourably: I am impressed by your work.
2. To fix firmly in the mind; to stress or urge, often with on.
3. To mark or stamp by pressure.
4. To apply with pressure; to press.

Noun

1. The act of impressing.
2. A mark or pattern made by pressure; an imprint.
3. A distinctive mark or quality.

Word family

• impression
• impressive
• impressionable

impress² force into service

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪmˈpres/^[4]

Etymology

To force into service is formed from in- and press, to force into service,^[1][2][3] probably influenced by earlier imprest, to advance a soldier's pay (1565), from Italian imprestare (“to lend”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

To force men to serve in the armed forces: 1596, in Shakespeare's 1 Henry IV.^[1][2][3]

Semantic evolution

The noun, impressment, is from 1602,^[6][3] and the impress-gang from 1780.^[6]

Timeline

• 1596 – to impress men.^[1]
• 1602 – impress, impressment.^[6]
• 1780 – impress-gang.^[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To force a person to serve in the army or navy.
2. To seize property by authority; to confiscate.

Noun

1. Impressment.

Word family

• impressment

Related words

• press
• imprint
• express
• depress

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press