imprimatur

American  

[im-pri-mah-ter, im-prim-uh-ter, im-pri-mey-ter] / ˌɪm prɪˈmɑ tər, ˌɪmˈprɪm ə tər, ˌɪm prɪˈmeɪ tər /

noun

1. an official license to print or publish a book, pamphlet, etc., especially a license issued by a censor of the Roman Catholic Church.

2. sanction or approval; support.

   Our plan has the company president's imprimatur.

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imprimatur British  

/ -ˈmɑː-, ˌɪmprɪˈmeɪtə /

noun

1. RC Church a licence granted by a bishop certifying the Church's approval of a book to be published

2. sanction, authority, or approval, esp for something to be printed

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Etymology

Origin of imprimatur

First recorded in 1630–40; from New Latin: literally, “let it be printed,” Latin: literally, “let it be made by pressing upon (something)”; impress ¹

Example Sentences

They give new research the imprimatur of rigor and validity and have been a forum for publishing findings that have advanced human health and scientific progress across fields.

From The Wall Street Journal

She needs no institution’s imprimatur, and there’s no corner of the industry promising anything she hasn’t already achieved.

From Los Angeles Times

The press’s hysterical reaction was perhaps inevitable given the convention of describing it as an “administration plan,” a “White House plan,” with the implied institutional imprimatur.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Treasury imprimatur and financing by sophisticated institutions may have given investors a false sense of security and caused them to relax underwriting standards.

From The Wall Street Journal

Ordinary experiences, imperfections, sadness, and anxieties are increasingly given the imprimatur of medical disorders, she concludes: “In other words: we are not getting sicker — we are attributing more to sickness.”

From Salon