emprise
/ɛmˈpɹaɪz/
emprise noun: an enterprise or endeavor, especially a quest or adventure.
Noun
emprise (plural emprises)
- An enterprise or endeavor, especially a quest or adventure.
- [N]oble minds of yore allyed were, / In braue poursuit of cheualrous emprize, / That none did others safety despize […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
- the deeds of love and high emprise1833, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Coplas de Manrique
- The qualities which prompt one to undertake difficult and dangerous exploits; chivalric prowess.
- I love thy courage yet, and bold emprise; / But here thy sword can do thee little stead.1634 October 9 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey...
Verb
emprise (third-person singular simple present emprises, present participle emprising, simple past and past participle emprised)
- To undertake.
Forms of emprise
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | emprises |
| alternative form (obsolete) | emprize |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | emprises |
| present participle | emprising |
| past participle | emprised |
| past | emprised |
Origin of emprise
Noun is from Middle English emprise, from Old French emprise, emprinse, from Late Latin *imprensa, from Latin in- + prehendere (“to take”). The verb is from emprisen, from the same source.
Words that rhyme with emprise
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- amaze
- appraise
- craze
- fraise
- gaze
- phrase
- mayonnaise
- ablaze
- braise
- chaise
- lase
- liaise
- malaise
- maze
- peise
- baize
- bayes
- bolognese
- braize
- braze
- days
- daze
- laze
- overglaze
- praise
- reyse
- ukase
- upraise
- abbes
- abrase
- acraze
- affrays
- arrays
- assays
- bays
- bayze
- blays
- bordelaise
- borrowing days
- brays
- cays
- chays
- clays
- conveys
- crays
- crème anglaise
- decays
- delays
Questions about emprise
- What does emprise mean?
- Emprise means an enterprise or endeavor, especially a quest or adventure.
- What part of speech is emprise?
- Emprise can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce emprise?
- Emprise is pronounced /ɛmˈpɹaɪz/.
- What is the plural of emprise?
- The plural of emprise is emprises.
Words near emprise in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: emprise (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “emprise.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/emprise. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.