enterprise

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See also: Enterprise

English

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Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French via Middle English and Middle French entreprise, feminine past participle of entreprendre (“to undertake”), from entre (“in between”) + prendre (“to take”), from Latin inter + prehendō, see prehensile.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɛntəˌpɹaɪz/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈɛntɚˌpɹaɪz/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Hyphenation: en‧ter‧prise

Noun

enterprise (countable and uncountable, plural enterprises)

  2. A company, business, organization, or other purposeful endeavor.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:enterprise
    The government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) are a group of financial services corporations which have been created by the United States Congress.
    A micro-enterprise is defined as a company or business having 5 or fewer employees and a low seed capital.
  4. An undertaking, venture, or project, especially a daring and courageous one.
    Biosphere 2 was a scientific enterprise aimed at the exploration of the complex web of interactions within life systems.
  6. (uncountable) A willingness to undertake new or risky projects; energy and initiative.
    He has shown great enterprise throughout his early career.
    • 1954, Philip Larkin, Continuing to Live:
      This loss of interest, hair, and enterprise — / Ah, if the game were poker, yes, / You might discard them, draw a full house! / But it's chess.
  8. (uncountable) Active participation in projects. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Synonyms

Derived terms

Expressions

Translations

Verb

enterprise (third-person singular simple present enterprises, present participle enterprising, simple past and past participle enterprised)

  1. (intransitive) To undertake an enterprise, or something hazardous or difficult.
    • 1733–1737, Alexander Pope, [Imitations of Horace], London: R Dodsley :
      Charles Mordaunt Earl of Peterborow […] , with only 280 horse and 950 foot , enterprised and accomplished the Conquest of Valentia
  2. (transitive) To undertake; to begin and attempt to perform; to venture upon.
  3. (transitive) To treat with hospitality; to entertain.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “enterprise”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

References

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