imprinter

I1M3P3R1I1N1T1E1R1

noun

A device that imprints.

OriginEnglish imprint ← Middle English emprinten ← Old French empreinter →
UncommonScrabble 13
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Meanings

nounimprinter (plural imprinters)

plural imprinters

  1. A device that imprints.
  2. A person who does imprinting with such a device.
  3. An organism that imprints, or forms an attachment.

    This would be unlikely with a very rapid imprinter such as a duckling or a chick, but mammals tend to become socialized more slowly.

    2009, Desmond Morris, The Human Zoo, page 101

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Proto-Italic*en
  3. Proto-Italic*en-
  4. Latinin-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*pres-
  6. Proto-Italic*pres-
  7. Latinpremō
  8. Latinimprimere
  9. Old Frenchempreindre
  10. Old Frenchempreinter
  11. Middle Englishemprinten
  12. Englishimprint
  13. Englishimprinter

From imprint + -er.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

reimprint
Cite this entry
APA

imprinter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imprinter

MLA

“imprinter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imprinter. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “imprinter,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imprinter.

Source: imprinter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.