empressement

English

Etymology

From French empressement.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃ˈpɹɛs.mɒ̃/, /ɒmˈpɹɛs.mənt/

Noun

empressement (countable and uncountable, plural empressements)

1. (archaic) Animated cordiality; friendliness, enthusiasm. [from 18th c.]
   • 1846, Edgar Allan Poe, The Gold-Bug:

     He grasped my hand with a nervous empressement.

   • 1924, Ford Madox Ford, Some Do Not… (Parade's End), Penguin, published 2012, page 13:

     So Macmaster saw – almost physically – Sir Reginald Ingleby perceiving the empressement with which his valued subordinate was treated in the drawing-rooms of Mrs. Leamington, Mrs. Cressy, the Hon. Mrs. de Limoux […]

French

Etymology

From empresser (“to hurry; to hasten”) +‎ -ment.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.pʁɛs.mɑ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

empressement m (plural empressements)

1. attentiveness
2. eagerness, alacrity

Further reading

• “empressement”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.