endue
Americanverb (used with object)
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to invest or endow with some gift, quality, or faculty.
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to put on; assume.
Hamlet endued the character of a madman.
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to clothe.
verb
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(usually foll by with) to invest or provide, as with some quality or trait
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rare (foll by with) to clothe or dress (in)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have enduedperfect
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has enduedperfect 3rd person singular
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has been enduingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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is enduingprogressive 3rd person singular
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am enduingprogressive 1st person singular
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are enduingprogressive
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have been enduingperfect progressive
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enduingparticiple
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enduessingular 3rd person
Past
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had enduedperfect
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was enduingprogressive singular
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enduedsimple
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had been enduingperfect progressive
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were enduingprogressive plural
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enduedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of endue
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English endewen “to induct, initiate,” from Anglo-French, Old French enduire, from Latin indūcere “to lead in, cover, induce”; see induce
Explanation
You probably hope that your years of ballet classes will endue you with the ability to dance like Baryshnikov. In other words, you're dreaming that all of those arabesques and pirouettes will provide you with the dancing talent you wish for. Endue is a fancy literary term that shows up most often in formal writing, but you could impress someone by using it to mean "endow," "invest," or "empower." Less often, endue is used to mean "to put clothes on," or "dress," which makes sense when you know that endue comes from the Latin word induere, or "to put on."
Vocabulary lists containing endue
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
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Twelfth Night
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A hymn of Dr. John Mason Neale— 548 / 486 Endue the creatures with Thy grace That shall adorn Thy dwelling-place The beauty of the oak and pine, The gold and silver, make them Thine.
From The Story of the Hymns and Tunes by Brown, Theron
Kate.—If that, indeed, as I must need believe From all your looks, you do not blame me much, Endue me with a favour.
From Laura Secord, the heroine of 1812. A Drama. and Other Poems. by Curzon, Sarah Anne
Endue him with grace, fill him with strength, enlighten his heart.
From Via Crucis by Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion)
Endue them with such steadfastness that nothing whatsoever will hinder them from turning towards Thee.
From Prayers and Meditations by Bahá'u'lláh
It will never be amiss to pray, Endue thy ministers with righteousness.
From A Short History of the Book of Common Prayer by Huntington, William Reed
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
