imprint
Americannoun
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a mark made by pressure; a mark or figure impressed or printed on something.
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any impression or impressed effect.
He left the imprint of his thought on all succeeding scholars.
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Bibliography.
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the name of a book's publisher printed on the title page or elsewhere, usually with the place and date of publication.
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the statement of such information in a bibliographic description of a printed work.
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a name, title, or other designation by which all or certain specific books of a publisher are identified.
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any marketing name used by a company or organization for a product line; brand or label.
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the printer's name and address as indicated on any printed matter.
verb (used with object)
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to impress (a quality, character, distinguishing mark, etc.).
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to produce (a mark) on something by pressure.
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to bestow, as a kiss.
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to fix firmly on the mind, memory, etc.
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Animal Behavior, Psychology. to acquire or establish by imprinting.
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to make an imprint upon.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a mark or impression produced by pressure, printing, or stamping
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a characteristic mark or indication; stamp
the imprint of great sadness on his face
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the publisher's name and address, usually with the date of publication, in a book, pamphlet, etc
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the printer's name and address on any printed matter
verb
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to produce (a mark, impression, etc) on (a surface) by pressure, printing, or stamping
to imprint a seal on wax
to imprint wax with a seal
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to establish firmly; impress; stamp
to imprint the details on one's mind
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(of young animals) to undergo the process of imprinting
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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imprintsimple
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imprintssimple
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have imprintedperfect
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has imprintedperfect
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am imprintingprogressive
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are imprintingprogressive
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is imprintingprogressive
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have been imprintingperfect progressive
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has been imprintingperfect progressive
Past
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imprintedsimple
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had imprintedperfect
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was imprintingprogressive
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were imprintingprogressive
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had been imprintingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of imprint
1325–75; im- 1 + print; replacing Middle English empreynten < Middle French empreinter, derivative of empreinte, feminine past participle of empreindre < Latin imprimere to impress 1
Explanation
To imprint is to mark or stamp something, like with the name of a publisher. It also can refer to any kind of impression or influence. You can imprint or leave imprints — the word is happy as a verb or a noun. You can literally imprint something with a stamp of your initials. You can even make an imprint on a bed just by lying on it. Branding is a type of imprinting too. Also, if someone changed your life, she left an imprint on you. You can hear the imprint (influence) of the blues on any rock and roll song. All imprints leave a mark.
Vocabulary lists containing imprint
Long Way Down
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Number the Stars
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Frindle
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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:
Grant emphasized that all three coaches could easily walk away because of the imprint they left and the resume they built.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
“We are really seeing in market prices the imprint of the new chair,” said former Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota, now a professor of economics at the University of Rochester.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 25, 2026
They are raising concerns that, stacked together, they leave a more lasting imprint on how households and businesses set wages and prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
South Africa were too skilful individually, too connected as a collective for England to make an imprint.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
Jeff took a piece of soap and made an imprint of the key.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
In one study, currently under peer review, we found that clumps of imprints behave just like dark matter, an unknown substance that makes up most of the matter in the universe.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 18, 2026
"There are so many imprints in my experience of going to the movie theatre as a kid and growing up going to the movies," he said.
From BBC ● May 7, 2026
A Hachette spokeswoman said both imprints conducted a “lengthy investigation in recent weeks” and Orbit U.S. decided not to publish.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
It was one of those trips that imprints itself on you — intimate, unexpected and immediately beloved.
From Salon ● Jan. 13, 2026
My sketchbook is a collection of imprints from my soul.
From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman
It's not just horses helping Lloyd, but a Welsh dragon too, imprinted on her helmet.
From BBC ● May 21, 2026
Obviously, that’s a moment that will forever be imprinted on my being and in my memory.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
Head coach Steve Borthwick has, in the past, zeroed in on the continuity, cohesion and the long-term lessons imprinted by the white heat of a Test match - but was citing different evidence this week.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026
It takes purified silicon rocks, a good source of which is sand in North Carolina, and fashions them into the 12-inch wafers that will later be imprinted with trillions of transistors to become chips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 25, 2026
It was as if the books had been imprinted inside my head.
From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah
Monica may spend time with David and choose whether she’d like to activate his imprinting feature, triggering a familial love that looks and feels as real as her biological son’s — at least to David.
From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026
If there’s another cub in California, the agency may try to pair them up to keep them from imprinting on people, according to the release.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2025
Howe immediately set about imprinting his methods at Newcastle.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2025
By studying mice with heart failure, the researchers found evidence of stress imprinting on the epigenome, that is, chemical changes occurred to the mice's DNA.
From Science Daily ● May 24, 2024
Nhamo didn’t know what imprinting was and she didn’t bother her head about it.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
