English → Latin
“impress” in Latin
mēnsmind; intellect, reason; reasoning, judgementaffīgōto fix or fasten on to; to affix or attach; to annex; to imprint or impress onīnfīgōto fasten, fix, implantinculcōto trample in, tread down; to stuff, force in; to inculcate in, force upon
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.