enroll

American  

[en-rohl] / ɛnˈroʊl /

especially British, enrol

verb (used with object)

enrolled, enrolling

1. to write the name of (a person) in a roll or register; place upon a list; register.

   It took two days to enroll the new students.

2. to enlist (oneself ).

3. to put in a record; record.

   to enroll the minutes of a meeting; to enroll the great events of history.

4. to roll or wrap up.

   fruit enrolled in tissue paper.

5. Nautical. to document (a U.S. vessel) by issuing a certificate of enrollment.

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verb (used without object)

enrolled, enrolling

1. to enroll oneself.

   He enrolled in college last week.

Other Word Forms

• enroller
  noun
• preenroll
  verb
• reenroll
  verb

Etymology

Origin of enroll

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English enrollen, from Old French enroller. See en- ¹, roll

Explanation

If you like clowning around but you're not quite ready for the circus, you could enroll in clown college to perfect your skills. When you enroll, that means you formally add your name to the list — or roll — of students. You can enroll in things other than schools or classes, and you can also enroll someone else. You might enroll your Chihuahua in a research project investigating whether dogs like to wear hats, or you could enroll your rude nephew in charm school. The "roll" of enroll goes back to the rolls of parchment that were used in medieval times for writing official documents.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

enroll enrolled enrolling

Suzanne and Jim Moller, who wore “Fight On” Trojan shirts for the event, flew in from Chicago to see their son, Keith, move into his dorm and enroll at the Marshall School of Business.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

When parents enroll a child in school, they aren’t transferring responsibility but choosing a partner to help fulfill it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

If you’re delaying Medicare because you are covered under an employer’s group health plan, be sure to enroll during your Special Enrollment Period after your employment or employer coverage ends to avoid late-enrollment penalties.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

On its website, however, Crystal River still is providing information on the Step Up scholarship for parents while inviting students to enroll for next school year.

From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026

He wanted to enroll in Driver’s Ed because Tony, our oldest brother, was making good money driving rigs hauling gravel, which he could do because he had a license.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

To investigate its possible effects, researchers enrolled 40 adults between the ages of 18 and 65 and randomly assigned them to two groups.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 22, 2026

Prince Harry and Meghan plan to relocate from the US to a private, non-royal residence outside London, with their children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, enrolled to start at school in September.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

When Junior Dominguez enrolled as a high school freshman at Newbury Park two years ago, he joined the junior varsity football team.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

The study, which began last week and will run into 2028, has enrolled 450 overweight people and will test two low doses of the pill compared to a placebo.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

When I enrolled, there were already two other students at my school with the first name Wade, so I’d been assigned the student ID of Wade3.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

UC is outpacing that, and says it is on track to reach its goal of enrolling 217,000 California resident undergraduates by 2030.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

They urged organisations to ramp up their cyber security measures by taking steps such as enrolling in the government-backed Cyber Essentials certification scheme.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

Y Combinator runs four cohorts a year, with recent cohorts enrolling about 200 companies each, meaning OpenAI and Anthropic could offer up to $800 million in combined AI credits in the next year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

The student body has been getting younger, with "a lot more students from the high schools" enrolling at Apex Technical School, said Zelda Cuesta, agency coordinator.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

Since enrolling, he has been working with a pastor from his village in the Nuba Mountains to start a school for Moro children.

From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John

Related Words

• accept
• admit
• employ
• engage
• enlist
• enter
• join
• obtain
• recruit
• register