imprimatur
/ˌɪm.pɹɪˈmɑ.tɚ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.28 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An official license to publish or print something, especially when censorship applies.
Example Sentences
- "The Cheats · A Comedy · Written in the Year, M.DC.LXII. Imprimatur, Roger L'estrange. Nov. 5. 1663. By John Wilson"
- "Sometimes 5 Imprimaturs are ſeen together dialogue-wiſe in the Piatza of one Title page, complementing and ducking each other with their ſhav'n reverences, whether the Author, who ſtands by in perplexity at the foot of his Epiſtle, ſhall to the Preſſe or to the ſpunge."
- "This ingenious plan expressed in a booklet by the Italian Roman Catholic priest had received three Nihil Obstats and two Imprimaturs from his bishop."
- "Children, the final imprimatur to family life, are being borrowed, adopted, created by artificial insemination."
- "Even with the imprimatur of Tynan and Hobson, the play was not an instant hit."
- "The author suggests that Grace is hoping to meet at church a respectable marriage candidate who will have the imprimatur of her pastor and the church community."
Etymology
From Latin imprimātur (“let it be printed”), third person singular present subjunctive passive form of imprimere (“to imprint”).
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: imprimātur
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌɪm.pɹɪˈmɑ.tɚ/
- British English: /ˌɪm.pɹɪˈmeɪ.tə/