enceinte
1 Americanadjective
noun
-
enceintes
plural
-
a wall or enclosure, as of a fortified place.
-
the place enclosed.
noun
-
a boundary wall enclosing a defended area
-
the area enclosed
adjective
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of enceinte1
1590–1600; < Middle French < Late Latin incincta, perhaps literally “ungirded,” equivalent to Latin in- in- 3 + cincta, feminine of cinctus, past participle of cingere to belt, gird, surround
Origin of enceinte2
1700–10; < French: enclosure, also girding fence or rampart < Latin incincta, noun use of feminine of incinctus girded in (past participle of incingere ), equivalent to in- in- 2 + cing- gird + -tus past participle suffix
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:
Its remains include an identifying tell mound, at the northern end of the site, a polygonal inner wall circuit, and a large outer defensive wall, or enceinte.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 19, 2024
And when Annette Bening appeared at the Academy Awards in 2000, gloriously enceinte in a dark gown, it sparked “a revolution,” Ms. Fuller said.
From New York Times ● May 15, 2013
Professor Perrin thinks Americans had better stick to American words and not fool around with such tony Gallicisms as chic, enceinte and demimonde.
From Time Magazine Archive
She did not, howevet, occupy it when her husband, Emperor Yoshihito, was enthroned in 1915 because she was enceinte.
From Time Magazine Archive
The forts round Paris were at once armed on their fronts facing the enceinte.
From The Franco-German War of 1870-71 by Count Helmuth
In the innermost angle between the ramparts and the river, shut off from the rest of Paris by the decaying courts and enceintes of these forsaken palaces, stood the Arsenal.
From Count Hannibal A Romance of the Court of France by Stanley John Weyman
Such rejoicings are still customary at Constantinople, under the name of Donánmá, not only when the Sultanas are enceintes, but also when they are brought to bed.
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 07 by Sir Richard Francis Burton
In practice the Byzantines favoured multiplied enceintes or several concentric lines of defence.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various
The castle stood upon high ground and consisted of three distinct enceintes or wards besides the keep, which was in this case merely a strong tower forming part of the innermost ward.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 4 "Carnegie Andrew" to "Casus Belli" by Various
In actual practice enceintes have been constructed since 1870 in France and other countries, consisting of a simple wall 10 or 12 ft. high with a banquette and loopholes at intervals.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various
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.
