enshrine
Americanverb (used with object)
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enshrines,
present (3rd person singular)
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enshrined,
past participle, past
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enshrining
present participle
-
to enclose in or as in a shrine.
His love for her is enshrined forever in his poetry.
-
to cherish as sacred.
The memory of our friendship will be enshrined in my heart.
verb
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to place or enclose in or as if in a shrine
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to hold as sacred; cherish; treasure
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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enshrinesimple
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enshrinessimple
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have enshrinedperfect
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has enshrinedperfect
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am enshriningprogressive
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are enshriningprogressive
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is enshriningprogressive
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have been enshriningperfect progressive
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has been enshriningperfect progressive
Past
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enshrinedsimple
-
had enshrinedperfect
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was enshriningprogressive
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were enshriningprogressive
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had been enshriningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of enshrine
Explanation
If your mother enshrines your first drawing, she might frame it and hang it in a special place, as if it were a holy relic. To enshrine is to put something special, often religious, into a protective place. A shrine is a place considered holy because something special happened there or a case that holds sacred items. Places where people have claimed to see Jesus sometimes become shrines. When you enshrine something, it means you are creating a shrine around it, or you are giving it its own protected, revered space. This can be literal or figurative. At a funeral, the minister might say that the deceased will forever be enshrined in the memories of those who loved him or her.
Vocabulary lists containing enshrine
The Crossover
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Vocabulary from Hillary Clinton's Concession Speech, November 9, 2016
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Martin Scorsese on Cinema
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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.
See Examples For:
I would enshrine gender equality in the Constitution, explicitly clarifying that the Equal Rights Amendment is part of our founding document.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
The state’s true goal, he asserted, is to enshrine “local attitudes” and “a Hawaiian tradition” that “disfavor the carrying of guns” in public to prevent violence.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2026
Giving Americans access to high-quality, low-cost cars would enshrine him as a champion for struggling American households.
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
Over the years, he helped various communities in some capacity to incorporate and eventually started working to enshrine the liberty cities model into law.
From Salon ● May 3, 2026
Working as a lawyer in South Africa meant operating under a debased system of justice, a code of law that did not enshrine equality but its opposite.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Unions at the ILO say this by extension enshrines the right to industrial action, but employers disagree.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
In fact, Article IV of the treaty enshrines enrichment as an “inalienable right.”
From Slate ● Feb. 27, 2026
It also enshrines separation of powers and judicial independence, and guarantees women's rights, freedom of expression and media freedom.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2025
Using a style of elegant lyricism, which enshrines tiny moments into glisteningly miraculous turning points, Erice lets the exchanges between the people he’s conceived play out without the need to advance the plot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2024
This implies first the care for the human body as the temple which enshrines the divine spirit.
From Jewish Theology by Kaufmann Kohler
They should go to the Smithsonian as a team and visit the display where Jackie Robinson’s jersey is enshrined.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
"Sovereignty is defended in international forums through diplomacy, historical truth and the peaceful, non-negotiable claim enshrined in our national constitution," the 2 April War Veterans Federation said in a statement.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
That authority is, oddly enough, not currently enshrined in statute.
From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026
But its most famous line—“Attention must be paid”—illuminates its greater significance as a drama upholding the importance of the individual, an idea enshrined in the Declaration of Independence itself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Hoover made a cameo appearance in the 1959 movie, which further enshrined him in the popular imagination.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
Pope Leo XIV on Monday warned that AI risked enshrining “an anti-human vision,” replacing jobs with dehumanizing work and consuming vast amounts of water and energy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
In the aftermath of the crime, newly minted fans of Mangione quickly fitted the man with revolutionary trappings, enshrining him as an avenger of working-class power.
From Slate ● May 1, 2026
City Council voted to designate the “Brady Bunch” house as a historic-cultural monument on Wednesday, enshrining the Studio City Midcentury as a piece of the city’s history.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2026
Morocco's King Mohammed VI lauded the vote as "historic," saying "we are opening a new and victorious chapter in the process of enshrining the Moroccan character of the Sahara."
From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2025
Q. But, do not Buddhists make reverence before the statue of the Buddha, his relics, and the monuments enshrining them?
From The Buddhist Catechism by Henry Steel Olcott
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.
