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Origin and history of enclose

enclose(v.)

also inclose; early 14c., enclosen, "to surround (a plot of ground, a town, a building, etc.) with walls, fences, or other barriers," from en- (1) + close (v.), and partially from Old French enclos, past participle of enclore "surround; confine; contain."

The specific sense of "to fence in waste or common ground" for the purpose of cultivation or to give it to private owners is from c. 1500. The meaning "place a document with a letter for transmission" is from 1707. Related: Enclosed; enclosing.

also from early 14c.

Entries linking to enclose

close(v.)

(klōz), c. 1200, "to shut, cover in," from Old French clos- (past participle stem of clore "to shut, to cut off from"), 12c., from Latin clausus, past participle of claudere "to shut, close; to block up, make inaccessible; put an end to; shut in, enclose, confine" (always -clusus, -cludere in compounds), from PIE root *klau- "hook," also "peg, nail, pin," all things used as locks or bolts in primitive structures.

Also partly from Old English beclysan "close in, shut up." Intransitive sense "become shut" is from late 14c. Meaning "draw near to" is from 1520s. Intransitive meaning "draw together, come together" is from 1550s, hence the idea in military verbal phrase close ranks (mid-17c.), later with figurative extensions. Meaning "bring to an end, finish" is from c. 1400; intransitive sense "come to an end" is from 1826. Of stock prices, from 1860. Meaning "bring together the parts of" (a book, etc.) is from 1560s. Related: Closed; closing.

enclosure(n.)

mid-15c., "action of enclosing," from enclose + -ure. Meaning "that which is enclosed" is from 1550s.

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Trends of enclose

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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insert

"to set in, put or place in," 1520s, from Latin insertus, past participle of inserere "to graft, implant," from in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + serere "join together, arrange, put in a row," from PIE root *ser- (2) "to line up." Middle English had inseren "to set in place, to

introduce

early 15c., "convey or bring (something) in or into," a back-formation from introduction or else from Latin introducere "to lead in, bring in," from intro- "inward, to the inside" (see intro-) + ducere "to lead" (from PIE root *deuk- "to lead"). Meaning "to bring forward, open to

envelop

late 14c., envolupen, "be involved" (in sin, crime, etc.), from Old French envoleper, envoluper "envelop, cover; fold up, wrap up" (10c., Modern French envelopper), from en- "in" (see en- (1)) + voloper "wrap up," which is of uncertain origin, perhaps Celtic (see Gamillscheg, Die

contain

a certain way)," from Old French contein-, tonic stem of contenir, from Latin continere (transitive) "to hold together, enclose...From mid-14c. as "to have (something) as a constituent part;" from late 14c. as "have something inside, enclose."...

content

French content, "satisfied," from Latin contentus "contained, satisfied," past participle of continere "to hold together, enclose...

cataphract

protected, covered up," from kataphrassein "to fortify," from kata "entirely" (see cata-) + phrassein "to fence around, enclose...

Midgard

mid" (from PIE root *medhyo- "middle") + Proto-Germanic *gardoz "enclosure, tract" (from PIE root *gher- (1) "to grasp, enclose...

case

early 13c., "what befalls one; state of affairs," from Old French cas "an event, happening, situation, quarrel, trial," from Latin casus "a chance, occasion, opportunity; accident, mishap," literally "a falling," from cas-, past-participle stem of cadere "to fall, sink, settle do

plug

1620s, "piece of wood or other substance, usually in the form of a peg or bottle-cork, used to stop a hole in a vessel," originally a seamen's term, probably from Dutch plug, Middle Dutch plugge "bung, stopper," related to Norwegian plugg, Danish pløg (the Scandinavian words also

bound

"to leap, spring upward, jump," 1590s, from French bondir "to rebound, resound, echo," from Old French bondir "to leap, jump, rebound;" originally "make a noise, sound (a horn), beat (a drum)," 13c., ultimately "to echo back," from Vulgar Latin *bombitire "to buzz, hum" (see bomb

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