enterprise
noun
a project undertaken or to be undertaken, especially one that is important or difficult or that requires boldness or energy.
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enterprise
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Enterprise
Enterprisenouna city in southern Alabama.
enterprise
1 American
[en-ter-prahyz]
/ ˈɛn tərˌpraɪz /
noun
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enterprises
plural
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a project undertaken or to be undertaken, especially one that is important or difficult or that requires boldness or energy.
To keep the peace is a difficult enterprise.
- Synonyms:
- venture, undertaking, plan
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a plan for such a project.
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participation or engagement in such projects.
Our country was formed by the enterprise of resolute men and women.
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boldness or readiness in undertaking; adventurous spirit; ingenuity.
- Synonyms:
- ambition, push, aggressiveness, drive
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a company organized for commercial purposes; business firm.
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Military. none Enterprise the first nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier, commissioned in 1961, with a displacement of 89,000 tons (80,723 metric tons) and eight reactors.
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U.S. Aerospace. none Enterprise the first space shuttle, used for atmospheric flight and landing tests.
adjective
Enterprise
2
American
[en-ter-prahyz]
/ ˈɛn tərˌpraɪz /
noun
enterprise
British
/ ˈɛntəˌpraɪz /
noun
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a project or undertaking, esp one that requires boldness or effort
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participation in such projects
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readiness to embark on new ventures; boldness and energy
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initiative in business
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( as modifier )
the enterprise culture
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a business unit; a company or firm
enterprise
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of enterprise
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Middle French, noun use of feminine of entrepris (past participle of entreprendre “to undertake”), from Latin inter- inter- + prehēnsus, prēnsus, past participle of prehendere, prēndere “to grasp, seize,” equivalent to pre- pre- + -hendere “to grasp”
Explanation
Enterprise describes a readiness to act boldly to get something started, like the enterprise it takes to start a charity with only a dream and a few dollars. Another meaning of enterprise is "a business venture," like a frozen yogurt enterprise. It requires a lot of determination, hard work and the steady belief that people will love your yogurt. People will say you show extraordinary enterprise for your willingness to take on such a challenging project, meaning you have initiative and drive.
Vocabulary lists containing enterprise
"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 1
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"Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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Beam Me Up: Talking About Star Trek
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In mid-September, Brookfield though its flagship private equity strategy struck a deal to buy plumbing and heating company Reliance Worldwide at an enterprise valuation of about $2.8 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
But just how far the agents can run with their “jobs,” and how large an enterprise they can handle, remains to be seen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
In the company’s earnings release, CEO Matthew Prince cited an acceleration in enterprise customer demand.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026
Empower Brands proposed to acquire consumer-products company Helen of Troy in an all-cash deal with an enterprise value of about $1.6 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
“Now,” boomed Wednesday, over the mechanical music, “at the start of any quest or enterprise it behooves us to consult the Norns. So let us designate this Sybil our Urd, eh?”
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
As Jean-Luc Picard, the captain who inherited the helm of USS Enterprise from William Shatner’s James T. Kirk, Stewart embodied franchise founder Gene Roddenberry’s humanist outlook.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026
Smaller lot sizes = more homes: About 90% of municipalities impose minimum lot sizes on zoned lots, write Tobias Peter and Edward Pinto of the American Enterprise Institute.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
While many actors are typecast, he moved effortlessly from Shakespeare and Dickens to the command of the USS Enterprise and his famous wheelchair in X-Men.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
The new readers are made by Axon Enterprise, another heavyweight in the police surveillance market that until recently had largely avoided the intense public backlash against Flock Safety.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026
I played with it all the time, and Dad played too, calling out deck numbers for the computer to take us to like we were really on board the Enterprise.
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
That has set off a three-way scramble among enterprises, tech companies and consulting firms for a very small pool of talent.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
“There is simply no means of effectively and reliably connecting the language models to large enterprises without the operating model and capabilities we have pioneered.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
Charter Amendment LA would change the way public works are administered in Los Angeles, allow the city to lease its underused land to tenants and open the door to greater city involvement in business enterprises.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
“I don’t think we know who the winners and losers are because we don’t know exactly how customers and enterprises are going to change their behavior and interact with AI.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 31, 2026
It is in our very small enterprises that we can find encouragement, here and there.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
