imprimatur

English

WOTD – 19 November 2008    

Etymology

From Latin imprimatur (“let it be printed”), third person singular present subjunctive passive form of imprimere (“to imprint”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˌɪm.pɹɪˈmɑː.tʊə/, /ˌɪm.pɹɪˈmeɪ.tʊə/
• (US) IPA: /ˌɪm.pɹɪˈmɑ.tɚ/, /ˌɪm.pɹɪˈmeɪ.tɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  ,

  Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

imprimatur (plural imprimaturs or imprimantur)

1. An official license to publish or print something, especially when censorship applies.
   • 1664, John Wilson, The Cheats, publication info page:

     The Cheats · A Comedy · Written in the Year, M.DC.LXII. Imprimatur, Roger L'estrange. Nov. 5. 1663. By John Wilson

2. (by extension) Any mark of official approval.
   • 1988, New York Times, Gay fiction comes home, [1]:

     Children, the final imprimatur to family life, are being borrowed, adopted, created by artificial insemination.

Translations

official license to publish

• Finnish: julkaisulupa (fi), imprimatur (fi)
• French: imprimatur (fr)
• Hungarian: imprimatúra (hu)

• Norwegian: imprimatur (no) n
• Russian: санкция f, одобрение цензуры n
• Swedish: godkännande (sv), sanktion (sv)

any mark of official approval

• Russian: санкция f

• Swedish: sanktion (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: imprimatur m

---

Czech

Noun

imprimatur n (indeclinable)

1. imprimatur

---

French

Etymology

From Latin imprimatur (“let it be printed”)

Noun

imprimatur m (plural imprimaturs)

1. imprimatur

   Donner son imprimatur.

---

Latin

Verb

imprimātur

1. third-person singular present passive subjunctive of imprimō