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emprise

noun
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em·​prise | \ em-ˈprīz How to pronounce emprise (audio) \

Definition of emprise

: an adventurous, daring, or chivalric enterprise
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Did You Know?

Someone who engages in emprises undertakes much, so it's no surprise that "emprise" descends from the Anglo-French word emprendre, meaning "to undertake." It's also no surprise that "emprise" became established in English during the 13th century, a time when brave knights engaged in many a chivalrous undertaking. Fourteenth-century author Geoffrey Chaucer used "emprise" to describe one such knight in "The Franklin's Tale" (one of the stories in The Canterbury Tales): "Ther was a knyght that loved and dide his payne / To serve a lady in his beste wise; / And many labour, many a greet emprise, / He for his lady wroghte er she were wonne."

Examples of emprise in a Sentence

he always seems to be having the sort of high emprise that most of us experience only in our dreams

First Known Use of emprise

13th century, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for emprise

Middle English, undertaking, from Anglo-French, from emprendre to undertake, from Vulgar Latin *imprehendere, from Latin in- + prehendere to seize — more at get

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The first known use of emprise was in the 13th century

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Cite this Entry

“Emprise.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emprise. Accessed 8 Mar. 2021.

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