impresa

American  

[im-prey-zuh] / ɪmˈpreɪ zə /

Also imprese

noun

Obsolete.

impresas, plural imprese plural

1. a device or emblem.

2. a motto.

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impresa British  

/ ɪmˈpriːz, ɪmˈpreɪzə /

noun

1. an emblem or device, usually a motto, as on a coat of arms

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• impresas
  plural
• imprese
  plural

Etymology

Origin of impresa

1580–90; < Italian: literally, undertaking, noun use of feminine of impreso, past participle of imprendere to undertake; see emprise

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

impresa imprese

In France you have a taste of them in the device or impresa of my Lord Admiral, which was carried before that time by Octavian Augustus.

From Gargantua and Pantagruel, Illustrated, Book 1 by Motteux, Peter Anthony

All the well-known pieces bearing the impresa of the Duke, a flame of fire and the motto “ARDET ETERNUM,” were produced at this fabrique, about 1579.

From The Collector's Handbook to Keramics of the Renaissance and Modern Periods by Chaffers, William

The custom flourished most in Italy, where the impresa of a noble house spoke to the eye at once, whether it was found on a sword-hilt or over a church-door.

From Rambles of an Archaeologist Among Old Books and in Old Places Being Papers on Art, in Relation to Archaeology, Painting, Art-Decoration, and Art-Manufacture by Fairholt, F. W. (Frederick William)

If you mind them, Their new loves stand before, old loves behind them: And from that prospect this impresa read, Rich pearls show best when they are set in lead.

From A Select Collection of Old English Plays Volume 14 of 15 by Dodsley, Robert

The principal requisites of such a drama are summed up by Dryden in the first two lines of the "Orlando Furioso," "Le Donne, i cavalier, l'arme, gli amori Le cortesie, l'audaci imprese."

From The Dramatic Works of John Dryden, Volume 1 With a Life of the Author by Saintsbury, George

And to call Theseus backe from his begunne imprese and bold attempt, and to terrifie the Gyant Typhon, and to make the proudest and stoutest heart whatsoeuer to quaile and stoope.

From Hypnerotomachia The Strife of Loue in a Dreame by Dallington, Robert

To revert, as before, to Ariosto's programme, it was not the arme and audaci imprese which Keats sang, but the donne, the amori, and the cortesie.

From A History of English Romanticism in the Nineteenth Century by Beers, Henry A. (Henry Augustin)

Sometimes other discussions arose about different matters, or biting retorts passed lightly back and forth; often imprese, as we now call them, were displayed.

From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. VIII by Various