enjoin
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to order (someone) to do (something); urge strongly; command
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to impose or prescribe (a condition, mode of behaviour, etc)
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law to require (a person) to do or refrain from doing (some act), esp by issuing an injunction
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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enjoinsimple
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enjoinssimple
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have enjoinedperfect
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has enjoinedperfect
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am enjoiningprogressive
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are enjoiningprogressive
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is enjoiningprogressive
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have been enjoiningperfect progressive
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has been enjoiningperfect progressive
Past
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enjoinedsimple
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had enjoinedperfect
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was enjoiningprogressive
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were enjoiningprogressive
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had been enjoiningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of enjoin
1175–1225; Middle English enjoi ( g ) nen < Old French enjoindre < Latin injungere to fasten to, bring upon. See in- 2, join
Explanation
To enjoin is to issue an urgent and official order. If the government tells loggers to stop cutting down trees, they are enjoining the loggers to stop. Enjoin looks like it should mean bring together, and at one time, it did have that meaning. But in current usage, the only thing enjoin brings together is a command and the person on the receiving end of that order. If your doctor enjoins you to stop smoking, he is suggesting strongly that you quit.
Vocabulary lists containing enjoin
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Romeo and Juliet
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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act IV
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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.
Enjoin upon children strict justice in their dealings one with another, even in their games, never allowing the stronger to impose upon the weak, but teaching forbearance and tenderness in all their actions.
From Social Life or, The Manners and Customs of Polite Society by Cooke, Maud C.
Enjoin it upon your children until the end of days.
From The Renascence of Hebrew Literature (1743-1885) by Slouschz, Nahum
But come, Arcathius, for your father's sake: Enjoin your fellow-princes to their tasks, And help to succour these my weary bones.
From A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 7 by Various
Enjoin beneficence and forbid malevolence: so shalt thou be loved of Allah.
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 02 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
Enjoin but the terms I can make my peace with you upon, and I will instantly comply.
From Clarissa Harlowe; or the history of a young lady — Volume 6 by Richardson, Samuel
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.
