Enterprise means a project or undertaking, especially one that requires boldness, energy, and initiative. When someone shows enterprise, they take action to make something happen rather than waiting around for others to do it.

Starting a lemonade stand is an enterprise: you need to plan, gather supplies, set up shop, and attract customers. Building a treehouse, organizing a neighborhood cleanup, or creating a school newspaper are all enterprises that require effort, creativity, and determination.

The word often describes business ventures. A small business might be called an enterprise, and someone who starts businesses is called an entrepreneur (from the French word for someone who undertakes things). The Starship Enterprise from Star Trek gets its name because the crew undertakes bold missions into unknown space.

When people talk about “free enterprise,” they mean an economic system where individuals can start businesses and compete freely. The phrase captures the idea that people should be free to undertake their own projects and ventures.

Enterprise can also mean the quality of being bold and entrepreneurial. A student who doesn't wait to be told what to do, but instead sees a problem and organizes others to solve it, shows real enterprise. That spirit of taking initiative and making things happen is what drives innovation and progress.