Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun rare Plural form of imprimatur.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin imprimantur let them be printed, third person plural present subjunctive passive form of imprimere to imprint.

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  • Plural of imprimatur based on its Latin meaning; Wiktionary has some citations.

    April 12, 2009

  • Not a plural of an English noun. As the singular 'imprimatur' means "an official mark decreeing it may be printed", the Latin verb plural imprimantur may be Englished the same way: "an official mark decreeing they may be printed". Typically, multiple documents grouped together would require only a single mark imprimantur, rather than each being given its own imprimatur. Accepting it as an English nonce-word, it's vaguely remininiscent of certain North American languages where there are different verbs for single or multiple objects.

    Both words can be pluralized in the usual way: imprimaturs for various documents separately judged, imprimanturs for those relating to Pope and Madras in those citations.

    Interesting too, and quite typical for Wikheadtionary, that three of their five supposed citations don't show it used in English at all, and their supposed pronunciation is directly contradicted by the only citation indicating a pronunciation.

    April 12, 2009