enterprise

See also: Enterprise

English

Alternative forms

• enterprize (chiefly archaic)
• entreprise (chiefly archaic)

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

• initiative

Derived terms

• enterprisey
• enterprising

 

Expressions

• commercial enterprise
• enterprise application integration
• enterprise architecture, enterprise architecture model
• enterprise feedback management
• enterprise liability
• enterprise service bus
• enterprise union
• enterprise value
• free enterprise
• private enterprise, private enterprise number
• scientific enterprise
• small and medium-sized enterprise
• state enterprise
• state-owned enterprise (or state owned enterprise)

Translations

company, business, organization, or endeavor

• Albanian: ndërmarrje (sq) f
• Arabic: مُغَامَرَة f (muḡāmara) (venture), شَرِكَة f (šarika) (company)
• Armenian: ձեռնարկություն (hy) (jeṙnarkutʿyun)
• Azerbaijani: müəssisə (az), şirkət (az)
• Belarusian: прадпрые́мства n (pradpryjémstva)
• Bulgarian: предприя́тие (bg) n (predprijátie)
• Catalan: empresa (ca) f, companyia (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 企業／企业 (kei⁵ jip⁶)

  Mandarin: 企業／企业 (zh) (qǐyè)

• Czech: podnik (cs) m
• Danish: virksomhed (da), foretagende
• Dutch: onderneming (nl) f
• Estonian: ettevõte
• Finnish: yritys (fi)
• French: entreprise (fr) f
• Georgian: საწარმო (sac̣armo)
• German: Unternehmen (de) n
• Hindi: उद्यम (hi) m (udyam)
• Hungarian: vállalkozás (hu), vállalat (hu), (EU jargon) gazdasági egység
• Indonesian: badan usaha
• Italian: impresa (it) f
• Japanese: 企業 (ja) (きぎょう, kigyō), 事業 (ja) (じぎょう, jigyō)
• Kazakh: кәсіпорын (käsıporyn)
• Khmer: ក្រុមហ៊ុន (km) (krom hun), សហគ្រាស (km) (saʼhaʼkriəh), ឧស្សាហកម្ម (ʼuhsaahaʼkam)
• Korean: 사업(事業) (ko) (sa'eop), 기업(企業) (ko) (gieop)
• Kyrgyz: ишкана (ky) (işkana)
• Lao: ທຸລະກິດ (lo) (thu la kit)
• Latin: coeptus n
• Latvian: uzņēmums (lv) m
• Lithuanian: įmonė (lt) f
• Macedonian: претпријатие n (pretprijatie)
• Maori: hinonga, pakihi
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: selskap (no) n, ^{(please verify)} foretagende

• Occitan: entrepresa (oc) f, empresa f
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: شِرْکَت (fa) (šerkat), بُنْگاه (fa) (bongâh), مُؤَسِّسِه (fa) (mo'assese)

• Plautdietsch: Äwanämunk f
• Polish: przedsiębiorstwo (pl) n, antrepryza (pl) f (archaic)
• Portuguese: empresa (pt) f
• Russian: предприя́тие (ru) n (predprijátije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: предузеће n, подузеће n

  Roman: preduzeće n, poduzeće n

• Sicilian: mprisa (scn) f, imprisa (scn) f
• Slovak: podnik m
• Slovene: podjetje n
• Spanish: empresa (es) f
• Swedish: företag (sv) n
• Tajik: корхона (korxona), муассиса (tg) (muassisa), ширкат (tg) (širkat), бунгоҳ (bungoh)
• Thai: ธุรกิจ (th) (tú-rá-gìt)
• Turkish: şirket (tr)
• Turkmen: kärhana
• Ukrainian: підприє́мство (uk) n (pidpryjémstvo)
• Urdu: کَمْپَنی f (kampanī) (company), شِرْکَت f (śirkat)
• Uzbek: korxona (uz), shirkat (uz), muassasa (uz)
• Vietnamese: xí nghiệp (vi)

undertaking, especially a daring and courageous one

• Bulgarian: предприемчи́вост (bg) f (predpriemčívost)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 事業／事业 (si⁶ jip⁶)

  Mandarin: 事業／事业 (zh) (shìyè)

• Czech: podnik (cs) m
• Danish: bedrift
• Finnish: hanke (fi)
• French: venture (fr) f
• German: Unterfangen (de) n, Vorhaben (de) m
• Hebrew: מִבְצָע (he) m (mivtsá), יָזְמָה f (yozmá)
• Hindi: उद्यम (hi) m (udyam)
• Hungarian: vállalkozás (hu), terv (hu)
• Italian: impresa (it) f
• Latin: susceptum n, ausum n, coeptus n
• Maori: hinonga
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: foretagende n

• Plautdietsch: Äwanämunk f
• Portuguese: empreendimento (pt), empreitada (pt) f
• Russian: риско́ванный прое́кт m (riskóvannyj proékt), начина́ние (ru) n (načinánije), зате́я (ru) f (zatéja), предприя́тие (ru) n (predprijátije)
• Slovene: podvig m
• Spanish: empresa (es), emprendimiento (es)
• Swedish: vågstycke n

willingness to undertake projects, energy and initiative

• Bulgarian: инициати́ва (bg) f (iniciatíva)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 事業心／事业心 (zh) (shìyèxīn), 進取心／进取心 (zh) (jìnqǔxīn)

• Danish: foretagsomhed, initiativ
• Finnish: yritteliäisyys (fi)
• French: initiative (fr) f
• German: Unternehmungsgeist m, Unternehmungslust (de) f
• Hebrew: יזמות (yazamut), יזמה (yozma)
• Hungarian: vállalkozókedv (hu), vállalkozószellem, kezdeményezés (hu), merészség (hu), kezdeményezőkészség (hu)
• Irish: borrúlacht f
• Italian: iniziativa (it) f
• Japanese: 冒険心 (ぼうけんしん, bōkenshin)
• Occitan: esperit d'entrepresa, volontat (oc) f
• Polish: przedsiębiorczość (pl) f
• Portuguese: iniciativa (pt) f
• Russian: предприи́мчивость (ru) f (predpriímčivostʹ), инициати́ва (ru) f (iniciatíva)
• Spanish: empuje (es), iniciativa (es)
• Swedish: vågstycke c

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[obert] Dodsley [et al.]:

     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.
   • 1670, John Dryden, The Conquest of Granada:

     The business must be enterprised this night.

   • c. 1680, Thomas Otway, letter to Elizabeth Barry

     What would I not renounce or enterprise for you!

3. (transitive) To treat with hospitality; to entertain.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto II”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 14:

     Him at the threshold met, and well did enterprize.

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

• “enterprise”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• enterprise in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• “enterprise”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• entreprise