Etymologically
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impression

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɪmˈpreʃ.ən/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English impressioun, borrowed from Old French impression (“print, stamp; a pressing on the mind”),[2][3][4] from Latin impressiō (“a pressing into; an attack; a perception”),[2][3] from the past participle of imprimere (“to press into or upon”) (see impress and imprint),[2][5] from in- and premere (“to press”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A mark made on a surface by pressure, especially by a seal: 1398 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline, which also has an image produced in the mind.[6][2]

Semantic evolution

An attack or onset is from 1402, now obsolete.[6] The act of pressing one thing into another is from the early 15th century, 1444 in the OED.[2][6] The effect of one thing on another, as in to make no impression on, is late Middle English.[4] A copy printed from type or an engraving is from the 1550s, and all the copies printed at one time from the 1570s.[2] A vague belief, as in under the impression, is attested by the 1610s.[2] An imitation of a famous person, as performed by an entertainer, is a modern sense.[7][8]

Timeline

  • 1398 – a mark by pressure.[6]
  • 1402 – an attack (obsolete).[6]
  • 1444 – the act of pressing.[6]
  • 1550s – a printed copy.[2]
  • 1570s – a printing of copies.[2]
  • 1610s – a vague notion.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An idea or feeling about someone or something, formed without much evidence: a good first impression.
  2. A vague belief: I was under the impression that.
  3. An effect on the mind or feelings.
  4. A mark made by pressing.
  5. An imitation of a well-known person, done for entertainment.
  6. All the copies of a book printed at one time.

Word family

  • impressional
  • impressionally
  • impressionless
  • impressionistic
  • misimpression
  • reimpression
  • impressionable
  • impressionism

Usage notes

The AHD compares impression with impress, imprint, print and stamp, all nouns for a visible mark made on a surface by pressure.[7] In Dorset dialect, impression meant oppression, as of the chest.[9]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)