enceinte

E1N1C3E1I1N1T1E1

adjective

Pregnant.

“S. W. Williams The suburbs are not unfrequently larger than their enceinte.”

UncommonScrabble 10

Meanings

adjectiveenceinte (not comparable)
  1. not comparablePregnant.

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

    1909, James Anthony Froude et al., The Reign of Henry the Eighth, volume I
nounenceinte (plural enceintes)

plural enceintes

  1. An enclosure.

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

    1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 824
    1 more example

    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.

    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
  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.

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivein an advanced stage of pregnancy

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Frenchenceinte
  2. Frenchenceinte
  3. Englishenceinte

Borrowed from French enceinte.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

enceinte. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enceinte

MLA

“enceinte.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enceinte. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “enceinte,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enceinte.

Source: enceinte on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.