enlistment

Etymology

It is formed from English enlist + -ment.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} The verb enlist, recorded from 1665 and earlier as inlist, is formed from en- and list, perhaps suggested by Dutch inlijsten (“to write on a list”).^[1][3][2][6] The OED notes that the plain verb list in the same sense is recorded considerably earlier and may be its source, and that the spelling with in- was much the more frequent in the 18th century.^[1] Weekley placed the verb among the Dutch military words of the period, such as furlough and roster.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of enlisting men for military service, or of engaging oneself for it: 1765, in Thomas Hutchinson's History of the Colony of Massachusets-Bay.^[1][3] Etymonline dates the noun to 1758,^[2] and Dictionary.com to 1740–50.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The noun followed the verb, which was first used of enrolling soldiers and only from 1753 of securing a person's help for any enterprise;^[1] the OED notes figurative and attributive uses of the noun as well.^[1] Webster (1828) also defined it as the written document by which a soldier is bound,^[8] a sense the OED records from Webster alone and marks as perhaps only American.^[1] Smyth's Sailor's Word-Book (1867) defined it as the engaging of recruits for the army or the marines.^[9] In current American use it also names the period of service a recruit signs up for.^[10]

Timeline

• 1765 – the action of enlisting for military service.^[1][3] Etymonline dates the word to 1758.^[2]
• 1828 – the document binding a soldier to service, in Webster's dictionary.^[8][1]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of enlisting, especially in the armed forces, or the state of being enlisted: Her enlistment in the navy surprised her parents.^[10][11][1]
2. A period of military or naval service for which a person volunteers: He served a four-year enlistment.^[10]

Word family

• reenlistment

Related words

• enlist
• list
• enlistee
• reenlist

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
8. ^ a b Webster, Noah (1828), An American Dictionary of the English Language, New York: S. Converse
9. ^ Smyth, W. H. (1867), The Sailor's Word-Book: An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, London: Blackie and Son
10. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West