Have you ever wondered about the meaning of enterprise? This article will tell you all about the word enterprise and how to use it.

Many people participate in the enterprise system every day and may not even know it. Do you know what the word enterprise means? This article will teach you how to use the word enterprise, how to say enterprise in different languages, and words with the same and the opposite meaning of enterprise.

Keep reading to learn more about the word enterprise!

What Does the Word Enterprise Mean?

According to Collins English Dictionary, we can use the word enterprise in several ways. First, enterprise can be used as a noun to refer to a company or business. It can also refer to managing said companies or businesses or being someone who starts new businesses.

The word enterprise can also refer to a new or difficult endeavor and thinking of new ideas with eagerness and willingness. If someone is enterprising, they are very motivated and self-starting.

The pronunciation of enterprise is ˈentəpraɪz. Enterprise is three syllables: en-ter-prise.

What Is the Origin of the Word Enterprise?

According to Dictionary, the word enterprise has been used since Late Middle English between 1400 and 1500. This word comes from the Middle French feminine of enterpris and Old French entreprise. This is the past participle of entreprendre, meaning “to undertake.”

Entreprendre comes from the Latin prehendere with two Latin roots: inter/entre and prehēnsus/prēnsus. These come from the participle of prehendere and prēndere, which mean to grasp or seize, from hendere and prendre.

How Can Enterprise Be Used in a Sentence?

There are many different contexts in which we can use the term enterprise. By studying example sentences containing the word enterprise, you can learn how to use enterprise in all of its different contexts.

See if you can decipher the meaning of enterprise in the sentences below:

The entrepreneurs enjoyed the free enterprise system and used their ingenuity to found seed-stage companies and other projects. They founded an enterprise accelerator for commercial purposes, and the leader was like an oracle for knowing which businesses would succeed.

The enterprise technology company focused on healing the biosphere and life systems that gave back to rural communities. Their whole enterprise was founded on helping others.

TikTok’s consumer-facing platform is filled with creators who have an adventurous spirit looking for engagement. This new product requires active participation and creative thinking to succeed in a thriving commercial enterprise.

The new idea for social media sites like Facebook and Twitter is an industrious undertaking, but each new idea can reap a great reward. Even when private limited companies fail, they gain business intelligence.

The drilling rig was essential to the costly enterprise, and when it broke, the business firm almost went bankrupt. The shareholders were livid at the risky projects that led to the accident, and the bold leader took the blame.

The woman chose to run her growing enterprise with fewer employees, creative thinking, and an adventurous disposition. She was a successful entrepreneur who ran her companies with a purposeful endeavor even in her early career.

What Are Translations of Enterprise?

If you need to discuss the concept of business with someone who does not speak English, it is useful to know translations of enterprise from Nice Translator. All of the below translations will help you learn to communicate about business to people from other countries or who speak other languages.

Portuguese (Brazil): empreendimento
Basque: konpainia
Portuguese (Portugal): empreendimento
Chinese (PRC): 企业
Hungarian: vállalkozás
Italian: impresa
Tamil: தொழில்
Croatian: poduzeće
Lithuanian: Įmonė
Korean: 기업
Ukrainian: підприємство
Hebrew: מִפְעָל
Norwegian: bedriften
Russian: предприятие
Latvian: uzņēmums
Finnish: yritys
Kannada: ಉದ್ಯಮ
Dutch: onderneming
Welsh: menter
Amharic: ኢንተርፕራይዝ
Vietnamese: Doanh nghiệp
German: Unternehmen
Bengali: এন্টারপ্রাইজ
Czech: podnik
Estonian: ettevõte
Catalan: empresarial
Urdu: انٹرپرائز
Japanese: 企業
Marathi: उपक्रम
Arabic: مشروع – مغامرة
Greek: επιχείρηση
Romanian: afacere
Serbian: предузеће
Spanish: empresa
Hindi: उद्यम
French: entreprise
Polish: przedsiębiorstwo
Telugu: సంస్థ
Turkish: girişim
Chinese (Taiwan): 企業
Swedish: företag
Slovak: podnik
Gujarati: એન્ટરપ્રાઇઝ
Thai: องค์กร
Malayalam: എന്റർപ്രൈസ്
Indonesian: perusahaan
Bulgarian: Предприятие

What Are Synonyms of the Word Enterprise?

Power Thesaurus lists many words that we can use in place of the word enterprise. These are called synonyms, and they can be used when you’ve used the word enterprise too much or are looking for a similar word.

action
activities
activity
adventure
affair
aggressiveness
ambition
boldness
business
businesses
campaign
companies
company
concern
corporate
corporation
creativity
deed
determination
drive
dynamism
eagerness
effort
emprise
endeavor
energy
enterprises
enthusiasm
entrepreneurship
establishment
exercise
exploit
feat
firm
firms
get-up-and-go
go-ahead
gumption
house
imagination
industry
ingenuity
initiative
inventiveness
move
operation
organization
originality
outfit
performance
plan
project
pursuit
push
resourcefulness
scheme
setup
speculation
spirit
task
undertaking
undertakings
venture
work
zeal

What Are Antonyms of Enterprise?

Power Thesaurus also lists numerous antonyms of enterprise. All of the below words have the opposite meaning of the word enterprise.

abrogate
abstention
accidie
acquiescent
apathy
avocation
awkward
ax
cowardice
failure
food coma
go on a vacation
go on vacation
have a holiday
have a rest
heart-stopping fear
idleness
inaction
inactivity
indifference
indolence
inertia
languor
lassitude
laziness
lethargy
listlessness
offseason
passiveness
passivity
sloth
small business
take a holiday
timidity
torpor
unemployment
work paralysis

Conclusion

Enterprise (ˈɛntəˌpraɪz) is a noun which can refer to a business or the act of starting and running businesses. It can also refer to a difficult or new endeavor or a person who goes on new endeavors. Do you know anyone in your life who you consider enterprising?

Sources:

Kevin Miller is a growth marketer with an extensive background in Search Engine Optimization, paid acquisition and email marketing. He is also an online editor and writer based out of Los Angeles, CA. He studied at Georgetown University, worked at Google and became infatuated with English Grammar and for years has been diving into the language, demystifying the do's and don'ts for all who share the same passion! He can be found online here.