English borrowed impresario directly from Italian, whose noun impresa means "undertaking." A close relative is the English word emprise ("an adventurous, daring, or chivalric enterprise"), which, like impresario, traces back to the Latin verb prehendere, meaning "to seize." (That verb is also the source of apprehend, comprehend, and prehensile.) English speakers were impressed enough with impresario to borrow it in the 1700s, at first using it, as the Italians did, especially of opera company managers. It should be noted that, despite their apparent similarities, impress and impresario are not related. Impress is a descendant of the Latin pressare, a form of the verb premere, which means "to press."
Examples of impresario in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebEssentially, Rojo, who has a little of the ballet impresario Diaghilev in her, brought together multiple departments to put on a show.—Gia Kourlas, New York Times, 20 May 2024 That is high praise from Lukas, who was a master at persuading the economically endowed to empty their pockets to compete with the sheikhs and Irish sports-betting impresarios for the finest horse flesh at public auctions.—Joe Drape, New York Times, 17 May 2024 May 8, 2024 The storied home in London's Belgravia neighborhood was built in 1838 and was once owned by gambling impresario and zoo owner John Aspinall.—Emma Reynolds, Robb Report, 8 May 2024 Staying in touch McMahon has also talked to Trump, according to two of the people close to the wrestling impresario.—Chloe Melas, NBC News, 17 Apr. 2024 See all Example Sentences for impresario
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'impresario.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Italian, from impresa undertaking, from imprendere to undertake, from Vulgar Latin *imprehendere — more at emprise
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