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emprise or emprize (em-PRAIZ) - n., an adventurous, daring, or chivalric undertaking, esp. a quest.
Also, more generally, chivalric prowess -- the qualities which prompt one to undertake difficult and dangerous exploits. Frankly, I'd be very surprised to meet this outside of a chivalric romance -- and since those aren't exactly burning up the best-seller lists the way they used to, I expected dictionaries to mark this as archaic, but no. This has been a part of English ever since the start of Middle English, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French, the feminine past participle of emprendre, to undertake, from Vulgar Latin *imprēndere, from Latin in-, which here I think is an intensifier in the sense of thoroughly + prehendere, to grasp/take. Seize the day, young knight!
---L.
Also, more generally, chivalric prowess -- the qualities which prompt one to undertake difficult and dangerous exploits. Frankly, I'd be very surprised to meet this outside of a chivalric romance -- and since those aren't exactly burning up the best-seller lists the way they used to, I expected dictionaries to mark this as archaic, but no. This has been a part of English ever since the start of Middle English, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French, the feminine past participle of emprendre, to undertake, from Vulgar Latin *imprēndere, from Latin in-, which here I think is an intensifier in the sense of thoroughly + prehendere, to grasp/take. Seize the day, young knight!
---L.
