encirclement

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Italic *en

Proto-Italic *en-

Latin in-

Old French en-bor.

Middle English en-

English en-

Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-der.

Ancient Greek κίρκος (kírkos)bor.

Latin circus

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -ulus

Latin circulus

Old French cerclebor.

Middle English circle

English circle

English encircle

Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥

Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥tom

Proto-Italic *-məntom

Latin -mentum

Old French -mentbor.

Middle English -ment

English -ment

English encirclement

From encircle + -ment.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈsɜː(ɹ)kəlmənt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

encirclement (countable and uncountable, plural encirclements)

1. The act of encircling or the state of being encircled
2. (military) The isolation of a target by the formation of a blockade around it
   • 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society, published 2010, page 9:

     Not only did it give the Russians an abiding fear of encirclement, whether by nomadic hordes or by nuclear-missile sites, but it also launched them on their relentless drive eastwards and southwards into Asia, and eventually collision with the British in India.

Derived terms

• operational encirclement

Translations

act of encircling

• Altai:

  Southern Altai: курчу (kurču)

• Belarusian: акружэ́нне n (akružénnje)
• Bulgarian: обкръже́ние (bg) n (obkrǎžénie)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 包圍 / 包围 (zh) (bāowéi)

• Czech: obklíčení n
• Finnish: ympyröinti (fi)
• French: please add this translation if you can
• German: Umzingelung (de) f, Umzingeln n, Einkesseln n, Einkesselung f
• Greek: περιτριγύρισμα (el) n (peritrigýrisma)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: 包囲 (ja) (ほうい, hōi)
• Korean: 포위(包圍) (ko) (powi)
• Māori: whiwhinga, taiāwhiotanga, ponitakatanga
• Polish: okrążenie (pl) n
• Romanian: încercuire (ro) f
• Russian: окруже́ние (ru) n (okružénije)
• Slovak: obkľúčenie n
• Ukrainian: ото́чення n (otóčennja)
• Welsh: amgylchyniad m

isolation of a target

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Altai:

  Southern Altai: курчу (kurču)

• Armenian: շրջափակում (hy) (šrǰapʻakum)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 包围圈 (zh) (bāowéiquān)

• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: saarto (fi), piiritys (fi), motitus (fi)
• French: please add this translation if you can
• German: Umzingelung (de) f, Umzingeln n, Einkesselung f, Einkesseln n
• Hindi: घेराव (hi) m (gherāv)
• Hungarian: please add this translation if you can
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: otoczenie (pl) n
• Romanian: încercuire (ro) f, înconjurare (ro) f
• Russian: окруже́ние (ru) n (okružénije)
• Slovak: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: ото́чення n (otóčennja)
• Welsh: amgylchyniad m