enshrine

English

WOTD – 15 March 2012

Alternative forms

• inshrine (archaic)

Etymology

From en- +‎ shrine.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈʃɹʌɪn/, /ɛnˈʃɹʌɪn/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Verb

enshrine (third-person singular simple present enshrines, present participle enshrining, simple past and past participle enshrined)

1. (transitive) To enclose (a sacred relic etc.) in a shrine or chest.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 272–274:

     A Phœnix, gaz'd by all, as that ſole Bird / When, to enſhrine his reliques in the Sun’s / Bright temple, to Ægyptian Theb's he flies.

2. (transitive, by extension) To preserve or cherish (something) as though in a shrine; to preserve or contain, especially with some reverence.
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 108, column 2:

     Warlike and Martiall Talbot, Burgonie / Inſhrines thee in his heart, and there erects / Thy noble Deeds, as Valors Monuments.

   • 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter XX, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:

     The minister knew well that he was himself enshrined within the stainless sanctity of her heart, which hung its snowy curtains about his image, imparting to religion the warmth of love, and to love a religious purity.

   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 256:

     At the centre of Muhammad's achievement was the extraordinary poetry which enshrined his revelations.

3. (figurative, law) To protect (an idea, ideal, or philosophy) within an official law or treaty.

   Other measures, such as compensation for victims, will be enshrined in the proposed new law.

   • 2011 April 19, Sumit Paul-Choudhury, “Digital legacy: The fate of your online soul”, in NewScientist‎^[1]:

     The links were mostly to newspaper articles and public records, and Google refused to comply, but with the “right to be forgotten” enshrined as a key objective of the European Union’s 2011 data protection strategy, more and bigger cases are likely to follow.

   • 2022 September 4, Jack Nicas, “Chile Says ‘No’ to Left-Leaning Constitution After 3 Years of Debate”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     In total, it would have enshrined over 100 rights into Chile’s national charter, more than any other constitution in the world, including the right to housing, education, clean air, water, food, sanitation, internet access, retirement benefits, free legal advice and care “from birth to death.”

Translations

to enclose (a sacred relic etc.) in a shrine or chest

• Armenian: սափորել (sapʻorel)
• French: enchâsser (fr)
• German: no equivalent term in German, but see in einem Schrein bewahren
• Greek: φυλάσσω ιερά (fylásso ierá)
• Italian: racchiudere (it)
• Russian: помеща́ть в раку (pomeščátʹ v raku), помеща́ть в ковче́г (pomeščátʹ v kovčég)

to preserve or cherish (something) as though in a shrine

• Armenian: փայփայել (hy) (pʻaypʻayel), պահպանել (hy) (pahpanel), պահել (hy) (pahel)
• German: verehren (de)
• Greek: διαφυλάσσω (el) (diafylásso)
• Russian: бе́режно храни́ть (bérežno xranítʹ), лелеять (ru) (lelejatʹ)

to protect within an official law or treaty

• German: verankern (de)
• Greek: κατοχυρώνω (el) (katochyróno)
• Irish: cumhdaigh
• Italian: consacrare (it), sancire (it)
• Russian: закреплять (ru) (zakrepljatʹ)
• Spanish: consagra (es)
• Swedish: stadfästa (sv)