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immure

[ih-myoo r]
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verb (used with object), im·mured, im·mur·ing.
  1. to enclose within walls.
  2. to shut in; seclude or confine.
  3. to imprison.
  4. to build into or entomb in a wall.
  5. Obsolete. to surround with walls; fortify.
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Origin of immure

1575–85; < Medieval Latin immūrāre, equivalent to Latin im- im-1 + -mūrāre, verbal derivative of mūrus wall (cf. mural)
Related formsim·mure·ment, im·mu·ra·tion [im-yuh-rey-shuh n] /ˌɪm yəˈreɪ ʃən/, nounself-im·mure·ment, nounself-im·mur·ing, adjectiveun·im·mured, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for immure

Historical Examples

  • "Load them with heavy fetters and immure them in a dungeon," said Governor Jefferson.

    The Conquest

    Eva Emery Dye

  • He did not immure himself, or cut himself off from human companionship.

  • You, who are so gay, so full of life and health and exuberant spirits, immure yourself in a cloister!

    Which?

    Ernest Daudet

  • The Resurrection Man entered first, and advanced into the middle of a small arched cell—a stone tomb, built to immure the living!

    The Mysteries of London, v. 1/4

    George W. M. Reynolds

  • It never forged a chain to bind a heretic or an adversary, nor erected a prison to immure him.

British Dictionary definitions for immure

immure

verb (tr)
  1. archaic, or literary to enclose within or as if within walls; imprison
  2. to shut (oneself) away from society
  3. obsolete to build into or enclose within a wall
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Derived Formsimmurement, noun

Word Origin

C16: from Medieval Latin immūrāre, from Latin im- (in) + mūrus a wall
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 immure

v.

1580s, from Middle French emmurer and directly from Medieval Latin immurare, literally "to shut up within walls," from assimilated form of in- "into, in" (see in- (2)) + Latin murus "wall" (see mural). Related: Immured; immuring.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper