ensue

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ensuen, also insuyen,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Old French ensivre (“to follow close upon, come afterwards”), also ensuivre, through its stem.^{[6][7][8][9][10]} Collins and Dictionary.com name Anglo-Norman ensuer as the immediate source.^[11][12] The Old French verb goes back to Vulgar Latin *īnsequō,^{[3][5][10][13]} from Latin īnsequor (“to pursue, follow closely, come next”),^[8][6][3] formed from in- (“upon”) and sequor (“to follow”),^[8][5][13] from Proto-Indo-European *sekw- (“to follow”).^[8][3] The OED compares Occitan enseguir and Italian inseguire.^[6] It is related to sue, suit, suite and sequel.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

To follow or pursue something, as a law or a course: the Middle English Pauline Epistles, in a manuscript from before 1425 (the translation from before 1400), say that Israel was insuyande the law of righteousness.^[2] Barnhart dates insuyen, to pursue, to before 1400,^[5] and Etymonline dates the word to about 1400.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the verb soon developed its modern intransitive senses: to follow as a result, recorded in 1426 (that no such riotous governance ensue), and to come next in time or order, from 1434.^[2][5] Etymonline dates the first to the early and the second to the mid-15th century.^[8] The transitive senses, to follow a person or a leader, to imitate an example, to pursue or chase, and to follow out a course of life, were current in the 15th and 16th centuries but are all obsolete;^[6][9] only "to seek after, strive for" survives, as an archaism.^[6] Johnson (1755) defined the verb as "to follow; to pursue", quoting "seek peace, and ensue it" from the Book of Common Prayer,^[14] the Prayer Book version of Psalm 34 that Weekley also cites;^[15] Weekley notes that the original transitive sense is archaic.^[15]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – to follow or pursue (a law, a course), as insuyen.^[2][5][8]
• 1426 – to follow as a consequence; to result.^[2][5]
• 1430 – to follow the guidance of; to imitate (obsolete by 1600).^[6]
• 1434 – to come next in time or order; to follow.^[2]
• 1483 – to seek after, strive to obtain (now archaic).^[6]
• 1485 – of events, to happen afterwards, especially as a result.^[6]
• before 1513 – to chase, to pursue (obsolete by 1569).^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To happen afterwards, especially as a consequence or result: A long argument ensued when the referee disallowed the goal.^{[16][17][11][4]}
2. To come next or afterwards in time or order; to follow.^[11][4][16]
3. (archaic) To seek after or strive for something: seek peace, and ensue it.^[6][17][14]
4. (obsolete) To pursue or chase.^[11][6][9]

Word family

• ensuingly

Related words

• sue
• suit
• suite
• sequel
• pursue

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 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
13. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ 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.
15. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
16. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
17. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster