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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
imprinting \im*print"ing\, noun (Ethology, Psychology) The learning of a behavioral pattern that occurs soon after birth or hatching in certain animals, in which a long-lasting response to an individual (such as a parent) or an object is rapidly acquired; it is particularly noted in the response of certain birds to the animal they first see after hatching, usually the parent, as in ducks who will follow the adult duck they first see. [PJC]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Imprint \Im*print"\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Imptrinted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Imprinting}.] [OE. emprenten, F. empreint, p. p. of empreindre to imprint, fr. L. imprimere to impres, imprint. See 1st {In-}, {Print}, and cf. {Impress}.]
1. To impress; to mark by pressure; to indent; to stamp.
And sees his num'rous herds imprint her sands. --Prior.
2. To stamp or mark, as letters on paper, by means of type, plates, stamps, or the like; to print the mark (figures, letters, etc., upon something).
Nature imprints upon whate'er we see, That has a heart and life in it, ''Be free.'' --Cowper.
3. To fix indelibly or permanently, as in the mind or memory; to impress.
Ideas of those two different things distinctly imprinted on his mind. --Locke.
4. (Ethology) To create or acquire (a behavioral pattern) by the process of {imprinting}. [PJC]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
imprinting
noun: a learning process in early life whereby species specific patterns of behavior are established
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Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |