Etymologically
Log in

print

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 23:54. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /prɪnt/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English prente,[2][3] borrowed from Old French preinte (“impression”), the noun use of the feminine past participle of preindre “to press”,[2][3][4] an alteration of earlier prembre,[2][3] from Latin premere (“to press”).[2][3][5] The French word was also borrowed into Dutch as prent.[2][3] It is related to press and imprint.[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A mark made by pressing, as by a stamp or seal: about 1300 in Etymonline and Barnhart,[2][3] before 1300 in the OED.[7] The verb, to impress or stamp, is from about 1340–1380.[7][3]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word was also used of an image stamped on the mind or soul, and the stigmata were called “precious prints of Christ”.[7][2] The printing press gave it its main modern meanings: the verb, to produce books with inked type, is recorded in 1511, replacing emprint (Caxton, 1474),[3] and to be in print is from the late 15th century.[2] A printed publication is from the 1560s, printed lettering from the 1620s, a picture made from a plate from the 1660s,[2] and out of print from the 1670s.[2] Printed cloth is from 1756,[2] writing in letters like type from 1801,[2] and the photographic print from 1853 (the verb 1851).[2] Printer is from 1504.[3]

Timeline

  • a. 1300 – a mark made by pressure.[7]
  • 1340–70 – verb, to stamp or impress.[7]
  • late 15th century – in print.[2]
  • 1504 – printer.[3]
  • 1511 – to print books.[3]
  • 1560s – a printed publication.[2]
  • 1660s – a picture from a plate.[2]
  • 1756 – printed cloth.[2]
  • 1801 – to write in separate letters.[2]
  • 1853 – a photograph.[2]
  • 1952 – to take fingerprints.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To produce text or pictures on paper or another surface with a printing press or printer.
  2. To publish in printed form.
  3. To write in separate letters like those of type rather than in joined writing.
  4. To press a mark or design into or onto a surface.
  5. To make a positive photograph from a negative.

Noun

  1. Printed lettering or text.
  2. A mark made by pressure, such as a footprint or fingerprint.
  3. A picture made by printing, or a copy of a painting.
  4. A photograph printed from a negative.
  5. Cloth with a printed pattern.

Word family

  • printer
  • offprint
  • overprint
  • photoprint
  • reprint
  • surprint
  • printable
  • printery

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 k l m n o p q r s t Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press