enceinte

See also: enceinté

English

Etymology

From French enceinte.

Adjective

enceinte (not comparable)

1. Pregnant.
   • 1909, James Anthony Froude et al., The Reign of Henry the Eighth, volume I:

     And the time was pressing, for the new queen was enceinte, and further concealment was not to be thought of.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:pregnant

Noun

enceinte (plural enceintes)

1. An enclosure.
   • 1853, Abbé de St. Michon [i.e., Jean-Hippolyte Michon], chapter XIV, in [anonymous], transl., Narrative of a Religious Journey in the East in 1850 and 1851, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 338:

     These labours upon Phœnician necropoli are of great importance. [...] M. [Louis Félicien] de Saulcy, one of the first travellers who has thrown light upon these necropoli, devoted himself to a very interesting examination of the tombs of the kings, of the prophets and judges, and upon the immense necropolis that surrounds Jerusalem, like a funeral enceinte.

   • 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 824:

     And so across the bridge and into the enceinte of the massive walls, threading their way towards the quarter where the morgue lay.

2. The line of works forming the main enclosure of a fortress.
3. The area or town enclosed by a line of fortification.
   • S. W. Williams

     The suburbs are not unfrequently larger than their enceinte.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French enceinte, from Latin incīncta, feminine past participle of incingō. Compare Italian incinta, Spanish and Catalan encinta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.sɛ̃t/

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Adjective

enceinte f (feminine only, feminine plural enceintes)

1. pregnant

   Synonym: (archaic) prégnant

Usage notes

The masculine form enceint is occasionally used with regard to transgender men, for species with male pregnancy such as seahorses, as well as in metaphorical, jocular, or fantastic contexts.

Derived terms

• tomber enceinte (“fall pregnant”)

Descendants

• English: enceinte

Noun

enceinte f (plural enceintes)

1. enclosure, compound
2. interior
3. speaker, amplifier

Participle

enceinte f sg

1. feminine singular of enceint

Further reading

• “enceinte”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Old French

Etymology

From Latin incīncta, feminine of incīnctus.

Adjective

enceinte

1. pregnant

Descendants

• French: enceinte