the development through exceptionally fast learning in young animals of recognition of and attraction to members of their own species or to surrogates
imprinting in American English
(ɪmˈprɪntɪŋ)
noun
Psychology
a learning mechanism operating very early in the life of an animal, in which a particular stimulus immediately establishes an irreversible behavior pattern with reference to the same stimulus in the future
Examples of 'imprinting' in a sentence
imprinting
`Now we have the model; now we will make the actual imprinting.
Zindell, David THE BROKEN GOD (1994)
He looked at her for a moment as if imprinting her living form on his mind and then fled into the wintry night.