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imprimatur - 5 dictionary results

im⋅pri⋅ma⋅tur

  [im-pri-mah-ter, -mey-, -prahy-]
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–noun
1. an official license to print or publish a book, pamphlet, etc., esp. a license issued by a censor of the Roman Catholic Church. Compare nihil obstat.
2. sanction or approval; support: Our plan has the company president's imprimatur.
Origin:
1630–40; < NL: let it be printed, L: let it be made by pressing upon (something); see impress 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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im·pri·ma·tur   (ĭm'prə-mä'tŏŏr, -mā'tər)   
n.  
  1. Official approval or license to print or publish, especially under conditions of censorship.
    1. Official approval; sanction.
    2. A mark of official approval: a directive bearing the imprimatur of high officials.

[From New Latin imprimātur, let it be printed, third person sing. present subjunctive passive of Latin imprimere, to imprint; see impress1.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Imprimatur

Im`pri*ma"tur\, n. [L., let it be printed.] (Law) A license to print or publish a book, paper, etc.; also, in countries subjected to the censorship of the press, approval of that which is published.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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imprimatur 
1640, from Mod.L. "let it be printed," the formula of a book licenser, third person singular present subjunctive passive of L. imprimere "to print" (see impress). Originally of state license to print books, later only of Roman Catholic Church.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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imprimatur

(Latin: "let it be printed"), in the Roman Catholic church, a permission, required by contemporary canon law and granted by a bishop, for the publication of any work on Scripture or, in general, any writing containing something of peculiar significance to religion, theology, or morality. Strictly speaking, the imprimatur is nothing more than the permission. But because its concession must be preceded by the favourable judgment of a censor (nihil obstat: "nothing hinders [it from being printed]"), the term has come to imply ecclesiastical approval of the publication itself. Nevertheless, the imprimatur is not an episcopal endorsement of the content, nor is it a guarantee of doctrinal integrity. It does indicate that nothing offensive to faith or morals has been discovered in the work

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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