encompassing

American  

[en-kuhm-puh-sing] / ɛnˈkʌm pə sɪŋ /

adjective

1. forming a circle around something; encircling or surrounding.

   She serves the whole Anchorage real estate market, including the encompassing communities.

2. comprehensively including, addressing, or dealing with all parts or aspects of something.

   Whether as a regular treatment or a special indulgence, your fully encompassing spa experience will leave you looking and feeling fantastic!

3. fully enclosing or enveloping something.

   As she looked out reflectively over the lake, the encompassing quiet was sliced by the shrill sound of her cell phone.

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noun

1. the act or state of surrounding, enclosing, or comprehensively including something.

   The term “diaspora” allows for the encompassing of a wider range of people and experiences than “immigrants.”

Etymology

Origin of encompassing

First recorded in 1565–75; encompass ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; encompass ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. ) for the noun sense

Explanation

Something that's encompassing completely encloses or surrounds something else. An island, for example, sits in the midst of encompassing ocean waves. The adjective encompassing can describe things that literally encircle something, and also things that are so extensive that they seem to do so. For example, an encompassing history of World War II would include everything about the period, including the Holocaust. Encompassing comes from the verb encompass, "surround and hold within," or "include comprehensively," from the roots en-, "put in," and compass, "space or circumference."

Example Sentences

Encompassing COVID-19 and wildfires, it speaks to the present while exploring the region’s long history.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2026

Encompassing over 16,000 km2 of towering mountains, long fiords, lush valleys, and massive ice caps, Agguttinni Territorial Park is a protected area on northern Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada.

From Science Daily • Mar. 12, 2024

Encompassing paths, patios and decks, walls, garden beds and built-in benches, it sets the tone and style for your outdoor living space — even more than plants or furniture.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 23, 2022

Encompassing an entire peninsula jutting into the Aegean Sea, it is forbidden to women and children.

From Reuters • Nov. 22, 2021

Encompassing him with innumerable cars, O Yudhisthira, the Vitahavyas poured upon Pratarddana showers of weapons of various kinds like clouds pouring torrents of rain on the breast of Himavat.

From The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 Books 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 by Ganguli, Kisari Mohan

Related Words

• enveloping