enroll

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English enrollen, also enroulen,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French enroller (“to record in a register, write in a roll”) (13th century),^[5][3][6] Anglo-Norman enrouler,^[7][8] modern enrôler.^[5][6][9] The French verb is formed from en- (“in”) and rolle (“roll, register”),^[3][5][7][9] from Latin rotula (“little wheel”);^[3] Barnhart instead derives it from Medieval Latin inrotulō (“to write in a roll”), from rotulus (“little wheel”).^[4][10] Names were originally written on a roll of parchment.^[11] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from the third quarter of the 12th century, meaning to enrol or record, and also to roll up.^[8] It is related to roll and role.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To enter someone's name in an official list, or admit someone as a member of a group: before 1400, in the Usages of Winchester.^[2] Etymonline dates the verb to the mid-14th century^[5] and Barnhart to before 1400, in the sense to write in an official list.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The Middle English verb was much used in law, for copying a deed, will or act into the rolls of a court, a guildhall or Parliament, from 1403–4.^[2][12] Since late Middle English it has also meant to admit someone as a member of a group or to enlist someone in an army,^[9][2] and in modern use it is often said of students registered in a school or course.^[7][9] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to insert in a roll or register".^[13] The legal sense survives in the preparation of the final copy of a bill passed by a legislature.^[12][7] A literal sense, to roll or wrap up, is rare.^[14][3] A noun enroll, a register, is recorded in an act of Henry VIII (1533–4) and is now obsolete.^[15]

Timeline

• third quarter of the 12th century – Anglo-Norman enrouler, to enrol, record.^[8]
• mid-14th century – the verb in English (Etymonline).^[5]
• before 1400 – to enter a name in an official list; to admit as a member.^[2][4]
• 1403–4 – in law, to enter a deed or act in an official roll.^[2]
• 1533–4 – noun enroll, a register (obsolete).^[15]
• 1755 – Johnson: to insert in a roll or register.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. To enter a name in a register, list or roll; to sign someone up as a member, student or participant: The college enrolled two hundred new students this year.^[7][3][14]
2. To register oneself or become a member; to sign up: He enrolled in an evening class in Spanish.^[3][14]
3. To enlist in military service.^[7][14][9]
4. (law) To record a deed or other document in an official register; to prepare the final copy of a bill passed by a legislature.^[12][7][3]
5. (rare) To roll or wrap up.^[14][3]

Word family

• enrollee
• enroller
• disenroll
• enrollment
• nonenrolled
• overenrolled
• reenroll
• unenrolled

Related words

• roll
• role
• enlist
• rotary

Usage notes

Enroll is the usual American spelling and enrol the British one; the derived noun is enrollment in American and enrolment in British English.^[14][7][9]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 c d e f g h i The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
11. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b c Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West
13. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ a b Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press