encompass

[en-kuhm-puh s]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR encompass ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to form a circle about; encircle; surround: He built a moat to encompass the castle.

to enclose; envelop: The folds of a great cloak encompassed her person.

to include comprehensively: a work that encompasses the entire range of the world's religious beliefs.

Obsolete. to outwit.

Origin of encompass

First recorded in 1545–55; en-¹ + compass

Related formsen·com·pass·ment, nounun·en·com·passed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for encompassed

incorporate, cover, involve, embrace, embody, comprise, encircle, girdle, envelop, beset, gird, enclose, compass, environ, circle, ring, admit, hold, have, subsume

Examples from the Web for encompassed

Contemporary Examples of encompassed

They encompassed diversity of many kinds, sex-worker rights, and labor rights.
Organic, Fair-Trade Porn: On the Hunt for Ethical Smut
Rachel Kramer Bussel
April 13, 2013
They had a unified vision of conspiracy that encompassed Jews, blacks, Zionist bankers, greedy plutocrats, and Bolsheviks.
Soviet Communism’s Collapse Left America’s Far Right Without a Real Foe
Lee Siegel
April 12, 2012
The exceptions carved out by the court “encompassed our entire agenda.”
Shooting Blanks
Adam Winkler
March 3, 2010

Historical Examples of encompassed

All the afternoon they wandered about, until black night encompassed them.
King Philip
John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott
There was a wedge-shaped garden in front, and it was encompassed by chestnut-trees.
A Son of Hagar
Sir Hall Caine
I felt I ought to marry her at once to shield her from the dangers that encompassed her.
The Trail of '98
Robert W. Service
They have encompassed them with gardens, and filled them with fountains.
Tancred
Benjamin Disraeli
The top rises in a cone, or pyramid of stone, encompassed by battlements.
A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland
Samuel Johnson

British Dictionary definitions for encompassed

encompass

verb (tr)

to enclose within a circle; surround

to bring about; cause to happen; contrivehe encompassed the enemy's ruin

to include entirely or comprehensivelythis book encompasses the whole range of knowledge

Derived Formsencompassment, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for encompassed

encompass

1550s, from en- (1) "make, put in" + compass. Related: Encompassed; encompasses; encompassing.