| imprint | 1. To impress; to mark by pressure; to indent; to stamp. "And sees his num'rous herds imprint her sands." (Prior) 2. To stamp or mark, as letters on paper, by means of type, plates, stamps, or the like; to print the mark (figures, letters, etc, upon something). "Nature imprints upon whate'er we see, That has a heart and life in it, "Be free."" (Cowper) 3. To fix indelibly or permanently, as in the mind or memory; to impress. "Ideas of those two different things distinctly imprinted on his mind." (Locke) Origin: OE. Emprenten, F. Empreint, p. P. Of empreindre to imprint, fr. L. Imprimere to impres, imprint. See 1st In-, Print, and cf. Impress. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| imprinting | 1. <genetics> A remarkable genetic phenomenon. The gist is that gene expression depends on the sex of the transmitting parent. There is, for example, increased severity of neurofibromatosis when the gene for it came from the mother. 2. <psychology> A particular kind of learning characterised by occurrence in very early life, rapidity of acquisition, and relative insusceptibility to forgetting or extinction. Imprinted behaviour includes most (or all) behaviour commonly called instinctive, but imprinting is used purely descriptively. (04 Jul 1999) |