Etymograph

English

unimpression

Unimpression comes from Latin impressiō ‘push, thrust, assault, onslaught’, from imprimō ‘to press, impress’, and ultimately from premō.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpremō1‘to press, push, press close or hard, oppress, overwhelm’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimprimō1‘to press, impress’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpressiō1‘push, thrust, assault, onslaught’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400impression1
  5. English1500–presentimpression1
  6. Englishtodayunimpression1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English unimpression

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpremōWiktionary, English unimpression‘to press, push, press close or hard, oppress, overwhelm’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimprimōWiktionary, English unimpression‘to press, impress’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpressiōWiktionary, English unimpression‘push, thrust, assault, onslaught’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400impressionWiktionary, English unimpression
  5. English1500–presentimpressionWiktionary, English unimpression
  6. EnglishtodayunimpressionWiktionary, English unimpression

A compound of un- + impression

Proto-Indo-European *n̥- ‘not, un-’

Proto-Germanic *un- ‘not, un-’

Proto-West Germanic *un- ‘not, un-’

English un-

Latin premō ‘to press’

Latin imprimō ‘to press, impress’

Latin impressiō

Old French impression

English impression

The story

Attested since the 19th century.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

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

first, expression, frist, 29 more

through Proto-Italic *pres-

pressure, express, depression, oppression, compression, suppression, depressive, compress, depress, repress, impressionable, impressionist, impressionism, 30 more

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

press, pregnant, imprint, sprain, reprimand, 43 more

through Latin imprimō ‘to press, impress’

impressive, impress, imprimatur, 26 more

through English impression

impressionistic, 6 more

Today it means

noun A lack of impression; the state of being unimpressed.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “unimpression”. 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 / unimpression