endue
Americanverb (used with object)
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to invest or endow with some gift, quality, or faculty.
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to put on; assume.
Hamlet endued the character of a madman.
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to clothe.
verb
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(usually foll by with) to invest or provide, as with some quality or trait
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rare (foll by with) to clothe or dress (in)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has enduedperfect 3rd person singular
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have enduedperfect
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is enduingprogressive 3rd person singular
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am enduingprogressive 1st person singular
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has been enduingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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have been enduingperfect progressive
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enduingparticiple
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are enduingprogressive
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enduessingular 3rd person
Past
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had enduedperfect
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was enduingprogressive singular
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had been enduingperfect progressive
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were enduingprogressive plural
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enduedsimple
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enduedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of endue
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English endewen “to induct, initiate,” from Anglo-French, Old French enduire, from Latin indūcere “to lead in, cover, induce”; see induce
Explanation
You probably hope that your years of ballet classes will endue you with the ability to dance like Baryshnikov. In other words, you're dreaming that all of those arabesques and pirouettes will provide you with the dancing talent you wish for. Endue is a fancy literary term that shows up most often in formal writing, but you could impress someone by using it to mean "endow," "invest," or "empower." Less often, endue is used to mean "to put clothes on," or "dress," which makes sense when you know that endue comes from the Latin word induere, or "to put on."
Vocabulary lists containing endue
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
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Twelfth Night
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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.
Endue, en-dū′, Indue, in-, v.t. to put on, as clothes: to invest or clothe with: to supply with.—n.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
Endue him with grace, fill him with strength, enlighten his heart.
From Via Crucis by Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion)
Endue them plenteously with heavenly gifts, grant them in health, and prosperity long to live; and finally, after this life, to attain everlasting joy and felicity, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
From Who Goes There? by Benson, Blackwood Ketcham
You have stood your limitation; and the tribunes Endue you with the people's voice: Remains, That in the official marks invested, you Anon do meet the senate.
From The Philosophy of the Plays of Shakspere Unfolded by Bacon, Delia
You have stood your limitation; and the tribunes Endue you with the people's voice:—remains That, in the official marks invested, you Anon do meet the senate.
From Coriolanus by Shakespeare, William
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.
