Etymologically
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enclosure

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɪnˈkləʊʒə/[1]
  • US: /ɛnˈkloʊʒəɹ/, /ɪnˈkloʊʒəɹ/[1]

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

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.