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🖨️ A stamping machine 🐣 Attachment figure
imprinter

imprinter

8.3
A person or animal that a young animal follows and treats as its parent
  • noun
  • /ɪmˈprɪntər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : figura materna
  • Without a natural parent, the puppy saw its human caretaker as its imprinter.

Examples

  • In some experiments, a moving object can become the imprinter for newly hatched chicks.

  • The mother duck is a crucial imprinter for her ducklings.

  • The scientist acted as the imprinter for the ducklings during their first days of life.

  • The imprinter plays a vital role in the development of young animals.

  • The scientist acted as the imprinter for the ducklings during their first days of life.

  • Without a natural parent, the puppy saw its human caretaker as its imprinter.

  • In some experiments, a moving object can become the imprinter for newly hatched chicks.

Synonyms

fosterer
vsimprinter
4.2

A person who gives a temporary home to a child or animal

becomes the primary attachment target during early imprinting rather than a temporary carer

Surface Forms

imprinter singular
imprinters plural

Morphology

imprinter = imprint (semi-transparent) = im + print + er

Formally the same agentive formation from 'imprint', but the animal-behaviour sense is specialized (the role in imprinting is technical), so learners may not infer the precise behavioural role from components alone.

Etymology

Imprinter comes from imprint (to 'leave a strong mark') and the ending -er ('one who does'), so an imprinter is the person or thing that young animals attach to or follow because it made that strong 'mark' on them.