Imprinting
/ɪmˈprɪn.tɪŋ/noun
The process by which an experience, image, or behavior becomes deeply and persistently fixed in the mind or behavior.
Did you know?The psychological sense became famous through Konrad Lorenz’s studies of young birds, which followed the first moving figure they encountered as if it were their parent.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*per-
“To strike, pass through, or press; a reconstructed root connected with forceful movement and pressure.”
Classical Latin
Latin
premere
“To press, compress, or weigh down.”
Classical Latin
Latin
imprimere
“To press into or stamp upon; literally, to press in.”
12th–13th Century
Old French
empreindre
“To imprint, stamp, or impress a mark.”
14th Century
English
emprinten
“To imprint or impress a mark upon something.”
16th Century
English
imprint
“A mark made by pressing, and later the act of fixing something in the mind.”
Modern English
English
imprinting
“The ongoing process of becoming deeply fixed through impression or early experience.”