enjoin
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to order (someone) to do (something); urge strongly; command
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to impose or prescribe (a condition, mode of behaviour, etc)
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law to require (a person) to do or refrain from doing (some act), esp by issuing an injunction
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of enjoin
1175–1225; Middle English enjoi ( g ) nen < Old French enjoindre < Latin injungere to fasten to, bring upon. See in- 2, join
Explanation
To enjoin is to issue an urgent and official order. If the government tells loggers to stop cutting down trees, they are enjoining the loggers to stop. Enjoin looks like it should mean bring together, and at one time, it did have that meaning. But in current usage, the only thing enjoin brings together is a command and the person on the receiving end of that order. If your doctor enjoins you to stop smoking, he is suggesting strongly that you quit.
Vocabulary lists containing enjoin
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Romeo and Juliet
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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.
Enjoin him to do the same on occasion.
From The Printer Boy. Or How Benjamin Franklin Made His Mark. An Example for Youth. by Thayer, William M. (William Makepeace)
Enjoin beneficence and forbid malevolence: so shalt thou be loved of Allah.
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 02 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
Enjoin, en-join′, v.t. to lay upon, as an order: to order or direct with authority or urgency.—n.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
Enjoin a young poet to write verses on any subject, and after he has finished his exercise, show him how Shakspeare, Dryden, and Pope, have treated the same subject.
From Cursory Observations on the Poems Attributed to Thomas Rowley (1782) by Kuist, James M.
Enjoin but the terms I can make my peace with you upon, and I will instantly comply.
From Clarissa Harlowe; or the history of a young lady — Volume 6 by Richardson, Samuel
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.
