imprimatur

imprimatur

See also: imprimátur

English

WOTD – 19 November 2008

Etymology

From Latin imprimātur (“let it be printed”), third person singular present subjunctive passive form of imprimere (“to imprint”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɪm.pɹɪˈmeɪ.tə/[1], /ˌɪm.pɹɪˈmɑː.tə/[2], /ˌɪm.pɹɪˈmɑː.tʊə/[3], /ˌɪm.pɹɪˈmeɪ.tʊə/, /ɪmˈpɹɪmətə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɪm.pɹɪˈmɑ.tɚ/, /ˌɪm.pɹɪˈmeɪ.tɚ/, /ɪmprɪˈmɑtʊɹ/[4], /ɪmˈprɪmətɚ/, /ɪmˈprɪmətʊɹ/[5]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  ,

  Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

imprimatur (plural imprimaturs or imprimantur)

1. (printing) An official license to publish or print something, especially when censorship applies.
   • 1664, John Wilson, The Cheats, publication info page:

     The Cheats · A Comedy · Written in the Year, M.DC.LXII. Imprimatur, Roger L'estrange. Nov. 5. 1663. By John Wilson

   • 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], OCLC 879551664, page 8:

     Sometimes 5 Imprimaturs are ſeen together dialogue-wiſe in the Piatza of one Title page, complementing and ducking each other with their ſhav'n reverences, whether the Author, who ſtands by in perplexity at the foot of his Epiſtle, ſhall to the Preſſe or to the ſpunge.

2. (by extension) Any mark of official approval.

   Synonyms: approval, authorization, endorsement

   • 1988, New York Times, Gay fiction comes home, :

     Children, the final imprimatur to family life, are being borrowed, adopted, created by artificial insemination.

   • 2015 March 30, Michael Billington, “Look Back in Anger: how John Osborne liberated theatrical language”, in The Guardian‎:

     Even with the imprimatur of Tynan and Hobson, the play was not an instant hit.

Translations

official license to publish

Finnish: julkaisulupa (fi), imprimatur (fi) French: imprimatur (fr) m Hungarian: imprimatúra Norwegian: imprimatur (no) n Russian: са́нкция (ru) f (sánkcija), одобре́ние (ru) n (odobrénije), разреше́ние (ru) n (razrešénije) Spanish: imprimátur (es) m Swedish: godkännande (sv), sanktion (sv)

any mark of official approval

Russian: са́нкция (ru) f (sánkcija), разреше́ние (ru) n (razrešénije), добро́ (ru) n (dobró) (colloquial) Swedish: sanktion (sv)

References

1. “92762”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.“imprimatur”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
2. “imprimatur”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
3. “imprimatur”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
4. “imprimatur”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
5. “imprimatur”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

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Czech

Noun

imprimatur n

1. imprimatur

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French

Etymology

From Latin imprimātur (“let it be printed”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.pʁi.ma.tyʁ/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

imprimatur m (plural imprimaturs)

1. imprimatur

   Donner son imprimatur.

Further reading

• “imprimatur”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Indonesian

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin imprimātur (“let it be printed”), third person singular present subjunctive passive form of imprimere (“to imprint”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /imprimatur/
• Hyphenation: im‧pri‧ma‧tur

Noun

imprimatur

1. (Catholicism) imprimatur, an official license to publish or print something.

Further reading

• “imprimatur” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Language Development and Fostering Agency — Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic Indonesia, 2016.

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /im.priˈmaː.tur/, [ɪmprɪˈmäːt̪ʊr]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /im.priˈma.tur/, [impriˈmäːt̪ur]

Verb

imprimātur

1. third-person singular present passive subjunctive of imprimō