impresa

English

Alternative forms

• imprese, impress

Etymology

From Italian impresa.

Noun

impresa (plural impresas)

1. (heraldry) A device on a shield or seal, or used as a bookplate etc.
   • 1613, John Webster, “A Monumental Column, A Funeral Elegy” in Three Elegies on the most lamented Death of Prince Henrie, London: William Welbie,^[1]

     My impresa to your lordship; a swan

     Flying to a laurel for shelter.

   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost‎^[2], Book 9, lines 33-35:

     […] or to describe Races and Games,
     Or tilting Furniture, emblazon’d Shields,
     Impreses quaint, Caparisons and Steeds;

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “impresa”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

• empairs, primase, rampies

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [imˈpɾɛ.zə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [imˈpɾə.zə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [imˈpɾe.za]

Participle

impresa f sg

1. feminine singular of imprès

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /imˈpre.za/, (traditional) /imˈpre.sa/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eza, (traditional) -esa
• Hyphenation: im‧pré‧sa

Etymology 1

Deverbal, formed with the feminine past participle of imprendere, a less common alternative for intraprendere (“to undertake”).

Noun

impresa f (plural imprese)

1. enterprise, undertaking, exploit, feat, endeavour/endeavor
2. company, firm, business, concern

   Synonyms: azienda, ditta, società

Related terms

• impresario
• PMI

 

Descendants

• → Polish: impreza
• → Spanish: empresa

Further reading

• impresa in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Participle

impresa f sg

1. feminine singular of impreso

Anagrams

• -spermia, asempri, esprima, permasi, pesarmi, presami, primase, sapermi

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /imˈpɾesa/ [ĩmˈpɾe.sa]
• Rhymes: -esa
• Syllabification: im‧pre‧sa

Noun

impresa f (plural impresas)

1. Obsolete spelling of empresa

Adjective

impresa

1. feminine singular of impreso

Participle

impresa f sg

1. feminine singular of impreso

Further reading

• “impresa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014