Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Language: Latin
Origin: , past participle of imprimere, from premere 'to press'

impress

 verb
     
im‧press W3 [transitive]
1 [not in progressive] to make someone feel admiration and respect:
Steve borrowed his dad's sports car to impress his girlfriend.
impress somebody with/by something
We were very impressed by the standard of work.
One candidate in particular impressed us with her knowledge.
I think the chief exec was favourably impressed by your presentation.
'He's a lawyer?' Mum looked suitably impressed (=as impressed as you would expect).
2 to make the importance of something clear to someone
impress something on somebody
Father impressed on me the value of hard work.
3 to press something into a soft surface so that a mark or pattern appears on it
patterns impressed in the clay
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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