emprise

English

Alternative forms

• emprize

Etymology

From Old French emprise, emprinse, from Late Latin *imprensa, from Latin in- + prehendere (“to take”).

Noun

emprise (uncountable)

1. (archaic) An enterprise or endeavor, especially a quest or adventure.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.ix:

     noble minds of yore allyed were, / In braue poursuit of cheualrous emprize, / That none did others safety despize [...].

2. (archaic) The qualities which prompt one to undertake difficult and dangerous exploits; chivalric prowess.

Verb

emprise (third-person singular simple present emprises, present participle emprising, simple past and past participle emprised)

1. (obsolete) To undertake.

Anagrams

• empires, epimers, permies, premies, premise

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɑ̃.pʁiz/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

emprise f (plural emprises)

1. expropriation
2. domination, control, influence

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Old French

Noun

emprise f (oblique plural emprises, nominative singular emprise, nominative plural emprises)

1. enterprise; undertaking; activity

Derived terms

• emprisier

Descendants

• English: emprise (borrowed)
• French: emprise

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881)