English
impressment
Impressment comes from Latin impressus ‘pressed, printed, imprinted, stamped, impressed’, and goes back to premō.
- 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 CEimpressus‘pressed, printed, imprinted, stamped, impressed’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500impressen
- English1500–presentimpress
- Englishearliest quotation 1808impressment
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 CEimpressus‘pressed, printed, imprinted, stamped, impressed’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500impressen
- English1500–presentimpress
- Englishearliest quotation 1808impressment
Earliest quotation: 1808, Hansard:: “owing to the immense number of our sailors, and…”
A compound of impress + -ment
Latin premō ‘to press, push, press close or hard, oppress,…’
Latin imprimō ‘to press, impress’
Latin impressus ‘pressed, printed, imprinted, stamped, impressed’
Middle English impressen
English impress
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pres- ‘to press’
first, expression, frist, 31 more
through Proto-Italic *pres-
pressure, express, depression, oppression, compression, suppression, depressive, compress, depress, repress, impressionistic, 32 more
through Latin premō ‘to press, push, press close or hard, oppress,…’
press, pregnant, imprint, sprain, reprimand, 43 more
through Latin imprimō ‘to press, impress’
impressionable, impressionist, imprimatur, impressionism, 26 more
Today it means
noun The act of seizing for public use; impressing into public service, especially military service and (most often) naval service.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin premō / impressment