rhizoverbBeta
DictionaryRoot: in-
Latin

in-

in, into, on, upon

Forms

  • in-
  • im- — Used before b, m, or p in Latin.
  • il- — Used before l in Latin.
  • ir- — Used before r in Latin.
  • en- — Developed in French in some words later borrowed into English.

Origin

Reconstructed Proto-Indo-European *en, ‘in.’

Note

Identical spellings can hide two different prefixes: this one indicates position or direction, while the other means ‘not.’

93 / 306
A close, elevated view of an official pressing an approval seal onto an applicant's architectural plan, making formal authorization the dominant action rather than a document handover.
noun

imprimatur

im-prih-MAH-ter/ˌɪmprɪˈmɑːtər/

Official approval, especially permission to publish a religious text.

Etymology
imLatinin, into, on, upon
+primaturLatinpress

Pressing upon something supplied the image behind the Latin verb for printing. The formula “let it be printed” granted permission to publish a book, giving imprimatur its broader sense of formal approval.

Full entry

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