emprise en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ɛmˈpɹaɪz/
Etymology
Noun is from Middle English emprise, from Old French emprise, emprinse, from Late Latin *imprensa, from Latin in- + prehendere (“to take”). The verb is from emprisen, from the same source.
Meanings
-
(archaic) An enterprise or endeavor, especially a quest or adventure.
[N]oble minds of yore allyed were, / In braue poursuit of cheualrous emprize, / That none did others safety despize […]
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:And as he is, who unwills what he willed, / And by new thoughts doth his intention change, / So that from his design he quite withdraws, / Such I became, upon that dark hillside, / Because, in thinking, I consumed the emprise, / Which was so very prompt in the beginning.
1867, Dante Alighieri, “Canto II”, in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, transl., The Divine Comedy, volume I (Inferno), Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 8, lines 37–42:the deeds of love and high emprise
1833, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Coplas de Manrique:Nothing short of an imperative sense of duty could tempt me to set forth on that most perilous emprise, a discussion of the American language.
1900, William Archer, America To-Day, Observations & Reflections, page 181:
-
(archaic) The qualities which prompt one to undertake difficult and dangerous exploits; chivalric prowess.
I love thy courage yet, and bold emprise; / But here thy sword can do thee little stead.
1634 October 9 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| emprize | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic | |
| emprises | Number=Plur | lexicographic |