imprest
1 Americannoun
verb
verb
noun
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a fund of cash from which a department or other unit pays incidental expenses, topped up periodically from central funds
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an advance from government funds for the performance of some public business or service
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(formerly) an advance payment of wages to a sailor or soldier
Etymology
Origin of imprest
First recorded in 1560–70; probably noun use of obsolete verb imprest “to advance money to,” from Italian imprestare, from Medieval Latin imprestāre “to lend,” from Latin im- prefix + praestāre “to tender, offer, present”; influenced in sense by praes, stem praed- “guarantor, one acting as surety”; see im- 1, pre-; see origin at stand
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.
In the contemplation of mind, from the highest order to the lowest rank,—from man, to the maggot that consumes him; we are imprest with the evidence of appropriate contrivance and infinite wisdom.
From Sound Mind or, Contributions to the natural history and physiology of the human intellect by Haslam, John
Remember only, that upon him, whose appearance thou shalt assume, thine shall be imprest, till thou restorest his own.
From Almoran and Hamet by Hawkesworth, John
And e’en when this beauty your bosom has blest, The brightest o’ beauty may cloy when possest; But the sweet yellow darlings wi’ Geordie imprest, The langer ye hae them—the mair they’re carest.
From The Complete Works of Robert Burns: Containing his Poems, Songs, and Correspondence. With a New Life of the Poet, and Notices, Critical and Biographical by Allan Cunningham by Burns, Robert
His version is this:— "Enough for me, if to some feeling breast, My lines a secret sympathy convey; And as their pleasing influence is imprest, A sigh of soft reflection heave for Gray."
From Notes and Queries, Number 26, April 27, 1850 by Various
But here at any rate we can see the house in which he toiled—no genius ever took more pains—and the surroundings which imprest his mind and influenced his inspiration.
From Seeing Europe with Famous Authors, Volume 5 Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Switzerland, Part 1 by Halsey, Francis W. (Francis Whiting)
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.
