Impress
/ɪmˈprɛs/noun
To mark, press on, or strongly affect someone's mind or feelings.
Did you know?In early English, related forms of *impress* were used for stamping, imprinting, and even forcibly seizing men for service, showing how the root idea of “pressing in” could become both physical and social power.
Etymological Timeline
Late Latin
Latin
impressāre
“to press into, stamp”
Old French
OFr
empresser
“to press, urge, hurry”
Middle English
ME
impressen
“to press into, imprint; to affect strongly”
16th Century
English
impress
“to stamp, imprint; later, to affect the mind strongly”
Modern English
English
impress
“to make a strong effect on someone; to stamp or imprint”