enclosure

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English enclosure,^[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman enclosure (“enclosing, fencing”), a legal term recorded in Anglo-Norman from 1346,^[3][4][5] and Old French enclosure,^[6][7] formed from enclos (“enclosed”), the past participle of enclore, with the suffix -ure.^[7][4][6] The French verb comes from Vulgar Latin *inclaudō, which replaced Latin inclūdō (“to shut in”),^[8][9] formed from in- and claudō (“to close”).^[9] Etymonline and Dictionary.com take the English word as formed from enclose and -ure.^[10][11] The spelling with in- is used in the statutes on the enclosure of land.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fencing in of waste or common land to appropriate it: about 1464, in a Chancery proceeding.^[2] Etymonline dates the sense "action of enclosing" to the mid 15th century.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The OED's first record is from 1517, in the Domesday of Inclosures, for a fence or barrier that encloses,^[6] and its first record of the enclosing of land is in a translation of Littleton's Tenures of 1528–30.^[6] Collins notes that such enclosures of common land were made in England at various periods, especially between the 12th and 14th centuries and finally in the 18th and 19th.^[12] Johnson (1755) quoted Bacon: "Enclosures began to be frequent, whereby arable land was turned into pasture".^[13] An outer covering or case is recorded from 1551, and a space marked off by boundaries from 1552,^[6][10] later also a section of a racecourse.^[6] A letter or document sent inside another is an enclosure from 1776, in the journals of the Continental Congress,^[6] and a nun's or monk's state of being enclosed in a monastery from 1816.^[6]

Timeline

• 1346 – Anglo-Norman enclosure, act of enclosing, fencing.^[3]
• c. 1464 – the fencing in of common land.^[2]
• 1517 – a fence or barrier that encloses.^[6]
• 1551 – an outer covering or case.^[6]
• 1552 – an enclosed space.^[6][10]
• 1605 – the action of closing in, in general.^[6]
• 1776 – a document sent inside a letter.^[6]
• 1816 – the state of being enclosed in a monastery.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. An area shut in by a fence, wall or other barrier, such as a pen for animals or a reserved part of a racecourse: The goats were kept in a stone enclosure.^[12][7][6]
2. The act of enclosing, or the state of being enclosed.^[12][7]
3. The fencing in of common land to make it private property, as done in England at various periods.^[12][7][6]
4. A fence, wall or the like that encloses something.^[12][7][6]
5. Something sent in the same envelope as a letter.^[12][7][6]
6. An outer covering or case.^[6]

Word family

• nonenclosure

Related words

• enclose
• close
• include
• inclusion
• closure
• cloister

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.