imprint

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   An impression

   An impression; the mark left behind by printing something or by pressing on something, or the figurative counterpart of such a mark.

   • Their footsteps left an imprint in the sand.
   • The packaging requires an imprint on three of its sides.
   • The day left an imprint in my mind.
2. 2

   The name and details of a publisher or printer, as printed in a book etc.

   The name and details of a publisher or printer, as printed in a book etc.; (metonymic) the publisher, publishing house, or printer; their brand, or one of their subbrands.

   • Near-synonyms: colophon, imprimatur
   • Each of the Big Five publishers has many imprints; for example, the imprints of Penguin Random House include Crown, DK, and Knopf Doubleday.
3. 3

   A distinctive marking, symbol, or logo.

   • Near-synonyms: imprimatur, hallmark
   • The shirts bore the company imprint on the right sleeve.
4. ›+ 3 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To leave a print, impression, image, etc.

      • For a fee, they can imprint the envelopes with a monogram.
      • Him great in peace and wealth fair Deva knows; / For ſhe amidſt his ſpacious meadows flows; / Inclines her urn upon his fatten'd lands; / And ſees his num'rous herd imprint her ſands.
   2. 5

      To learn something indelibly at a particular stage of life, such as who one's parents are.

      • Baby birds are known for a propensity to imprint; they tend to imprint on whichever creatures they perceive to be their parents — including humans doing wildlife rescue!
      • That is, by way of this initial imprinting the young animal becomes a socialized member of its species. Animals misimprinted to other species show a variety of abnormal social behaviors as adults.
   3. 6

      To mark a gene as being from a particular parent so that only one of the two copies of…

      To mark a gene as being from a particular parent so that only one of the two copies of the gene is expressed.

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