imprimatur means an official license to publish or print something, especially when censorship applies. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 77 out of 100.
imprimatur is pronounced /ˌɪm.pɹɪˈmeɪ.tə/.
Why “imprimatur” is a great word
IMPRIMATUR — [Noun] An official license to print or publish something, especially under a system of censorship, or any formal mark of approval. From Latin imprimātur (“let it be printed”), the third-person singular present subjunctive passive form of imprimere (“to imprint, to press into”). First attested in English in the 1640s. Unlike an "endorsement," which is a personal nod of support, or a "sanction," which can ambiguously denote either permission or penalty, an imprimatur is the specific, institutional machinery of permission made manifest. It is the inked stamp on a manuscript’s title page, the dry signature on an official dossier, and the final turn of a key that unlocks the press—the fragile gate between a private thought and a public fact.
noun
- An official license to publish or print something, especially when censorship applies.“The Cheats · A Comedy · Written in the Year, M.DC.LXII. Imprimatur, Roger L'estrange. Nov. 5. 1663. By John Wilson”
- Any mark of official approval.“Children, the final imprimatur to family life, are being borrowed, adopted, created by artificial insemination.”