LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
English → Latin

“impress” in Latin

The English word impress itself goes back to Latin premō, through impressus.

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

impress v.
PROPR., To press anything upon or into another, imprimere aliquid in aliqua re or alicui rei (to press into or on; also IMPROP., of impressing on the mind): alicui re aptare et imprimere (to lay and press in upon anything; e.g., os cucurbitulae corpori): signare aliquid aliquare [e.g., cervam figuris]; and IMPROP., signare aliquid in animo (also proper word of impressing =stamping coins): imponere aliquid alicui rei or in aliqua re: applicare alicui rei (to lay or press upon; e.g., a plaster on a wound, etc.). To impress a kiss upon anybody’s lips, basium or suavium imprimere alicui († Martisalis, 10, 42, 5; Apul., Met., 2, p. 119, 6); osculum applicare alicui († Ov., Fast., 4, 851); osculum alicui ingerere (suddenly, against the person’s will, Suet., Gramm., 23). To impress a figure on wax, exprimere imaginem alicujus in cera (Plaut., Pseud., 1, 1, 54: so faciem alicujus gypso, Plin.)
IMPROPR., Of impressing the mind, imprimere aliquid in animo, or mente, or in animo atque mente alicujus; imprimere menti alicujus, or imprimere alicui: insculpere aliquid in mente (to engrave it, as it were, on the mind; also with ut; e.g., ut deos aeternos... haberemus, Cic.): signare aliquid in animo (to stamp it on the mind). (The words are found in this connection and order.) imprimere et quasi signare aliquid in animo (Cic.): affigere: infigere (the former post-Augustan, to fix into, etc.): inculcare (litterally, to tread it in; to fix anything in the mind by frequent repetition; e.g., memoriae). To impress anything on one’s memory, memoriae mandare, infigere, or affigere, or animo suo affigere; on anybody’s memory, alicujus memoriae inculcare: to be impressed upon one’s memory, haerere in memoria: to have anything impressed on one’s mind, aliquid impressum est in alicujus animo atque mente; aliquid impressum est atque inustum (of a deep, permanent impression, Cic.): to impress upon one’s heart or feelings, aliquid penitus animo suo mentique mandare; aliquid demittere in pectus or in pectus animumque. Anything has deeply impressed me, or is impressed deeply upon me, aliquid alte descendit [Vid: “to make a deep IMPRESSION”]: to be impressed upon one’s mind, in animo insculptum esse, in animo insculptum habere: to be apparently an innate motion, and impressed equally on the minds of all, innatum et in animo quasi insculptum esse: anything is deeply impressed upon me, aliquid penitus inhaerescit in mente; infixum haeret pectori meo; mihi in visceribus haeret (of warnings; Cic., Att., 6, 1, 8): to impress the notion of anything on one’s mind, imprimere notionem alicujus rei in animo suo: notions that are impressed on every mind alike, notiones in animis hominum quasi consignatae: to have impressed anything on one’s mind from one’s youth upward, (praeceptis) ab adolescentia suadere sibi.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for impress?
The usual Latin words for “impress” are mēns, affīgō, īnfīgō; also inculcō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.