English
impressionable
Impressionable comes from French impressionner ‘to impress, to wow, to awe’, and goes back to Latin premō ‘to press, push, press close or hard, oppress,…’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpremō‘to press, push, press close or hard, oppress, overwhelm’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEimprimō‘to press, impress’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpressiōnem
- Frenchc. 1600–presentimpression‘an impression, the overall effect of something’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentimpressionner‘to impress, to wow, to awe’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentimpressionnable
- Englishearliest quotation 1908impressionable
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpremō‘to press, push, press close or hard, oppress, overwhelm’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEimprimō‘to press, impress’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpressiōnem
- Frenchc. 1600–presentimpression‘an impression, the overall effect of something’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentimpressionner‘to impress, to wow, to awe’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentimpressionnable
- Englishearliest quotation 1908impressionable
Earliest quotation: 1908, Elizabeth Strong Worthington, How to Cook Husbands: “I had never been an impressionable girl as far…”
Formed from impression + -able
Latin premō ‘to press’
Latin imprimō ‘to press, impress’
Latin impressiō
Old French impression
English impression
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pres- ‘to press’
first, expression, frist, 34 more
through Proto-Italic *pres-
pressure, express, depression, oppression, compression, suppression, depressive, compress, depress, repress, 35 more
through Latin premō ‘to press, push, press close or hard, oppress,…’
press, pregnant, imprint, sprain, reprimand, 45 more
through Latin imprimō ‘to press, impress’
Today it means
adj Being easily influenced (especially of young people).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin premō / impressionable