enshrine
Americanverb (used with object)
-
enshrines,
present (3rd person singular)
-
enshrined,
past participle, past
-
enshrining
present participle
-
to enclose in or as in a shrine.
His love for her is enshrined forever in his poetry.
-
to cherish as sacred.
The memory of our friendship will be enshrined in my heart.
verb
-
to place or enclose in or as if in a shrine
-
to hold as sacred; cherish; treasure
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
enshrinesimple
-
enshrinessimple
-
have enshrinedperfect
-
has enshrinedperfect
-
am enshriningprogressive
-
are enshriningprogressive
-
is enshriningprogressive
-
have been enshriningperfect progressive
-
has been enshriningperfect progressive
Past
-
enshrinedsimple
-
had enshrinedperfect
-
was enshriningprogressive
-
were enshriningprogressive
-
had been enshriningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of enshrine
Explanation
If your mother enshrines your first drawing, she might frame it and hang it in a special place, as if it were a holy relic. To enshrine is to put something special, often religious, into a protective place. A shrine is a place considered holy because something special happened there or a case that holds sacred items. Places where people have claimed to see Jesus sometimes become shrines. When you enshrine something, it means you are creating a shrine around it, or you are giving it its own protected, revered space. This can be literal or figurative. At a funeral, the minister might say that the deceased will forever be enshrined in the memories of those who loved him or her.
Vocabulary lists containing enshrine
The Crossover
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Vocabulary from Hillary Clinton's Concession Speech, November 9, 2016
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Martin Scorsese on Cinema
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
He was pointing out that it would take constant vigilance to fend off repeated attempts to chip away at the protections he helped enshrine in the Coastal Act.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
You may not get everything you want, but we should all agree that the civil rights and liberties the founding fathers sought to enshrine in our Constitution must be defended.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
I would enshrine gender equality in the Constitution, explicitly clarifying that the Equal Rights Amendment is part of our founding document.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Once the slave power had been vanquished, the Reconstruction Congress sought to enshrine birthright citizenship in the Constitution so it could never be stripped away again.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2026
Working as a lawyer in South Africa meant operating under a debased system of justice, a code of law that did not enshrine equality but its opposite.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Unions at the ILO say this by extension enshrines the right to industrial action, but employers disagree.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
It also enshrines separation of powers and judicial independence, and guarantees women's rights, freedom of expression and media freedom.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2025
The measure enshrines the text of the Ten Commandments found in the Protestant King James Version of the Bible.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 21, 2024
The 14th Amendment permanently enshrines in the Constitution the privileges and protections of democracy.
From Slate ● Jan. 10, 2024
It enshrines an exquisite sarcophagus, which was probably once in accordance with the Emperor's wish open to the sunlight and the showers.
From The Panjab, North-West Frontier Province, and Kashmir by Sir James McCrone Douie
Ditka was enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Now he is championing a "people-led" movement that promotes the protection of human rights and rule of law as enshrined in the constitution.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
Like when he somehow leapfrogged a defender while flying backward, a feat enshrined on the cover of the Madden NFL videogame.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
We all grasp what it means to be an American and how that is enshrined in the Constitution.
From Slate ● Aug. 31, 2026
Hoover made a cameo appearance in the 1959 movie, which further enshrined him in the popular imagination.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Yousef, whose community strongly promotes gender equality, said she also wants to work on "defending women's rights and enshrining them in the country's constitution".
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Pope Leo XIV on Monday warned that AI risked enshrining “an anti-human vision,” replacing jobs with dehumanizing work and consuming vast amounts of water and energy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
A bill aimed at enshrining in law the government's Chagos deal will not be debated in the Lords as previously planned.
From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2026
They assumed that Congress had wide discretion to restrict the removal of executive officers, enshrining that view into law through the creation of myriad independent agencies.
From Slate ● Dec. 4, 2025
Three years had scarcely passed since His baptism when the gathering storm outbroke, and the human body of Jesus paid the penalty for enshrining the glorious Presence of a Teacher more than man.
From Esoteric Christianity, or The Lesser Mysteries by Annie Wood Besant
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
