Etymograph

English

impressive

Impressive is impress + -ive. Impress comes from Latin impressus, the participle of imprimō ‘to press into’, from premō ‘to press’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpremō1‘to press’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimprimō1‘to press into, stamp’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpressus1‘pressed’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500impressen1‘to impress’
  5. English1500–presentimpress1
  6. Englishtodayimpressive1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English impressive

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpremōWiktionary, English impressive‘to press’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimprimōWiktionary, English impressive‘to press into, stamp’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpressusWiktionary, English impressive‘pressed’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500impressenWiktionary, English impressive‘to impress’
  5. English1500–presentimpressWiktionary, English impressive
  6. EnglishtodayimpressiveWiktionary, English impressive

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pres- ‘to press’

first, expression, frist, 35 more

through Proto-Italic *pres-

pressure, express, depression, oppression, compression, suppression, depressive, compress, depress, repress, 36 more

through Latin premō ‘to press, push, press close or hard, oppress,…’

press, pregnant, imprint, sprain, reprimand, 46 more

through Latin imprimō ‘to press, impress’

imprimatur, 29 more

Today it means

adj Making, or tending to make, a positive impression; having power to impress.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “impressive”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin premō / impressive

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