Meanings
- 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
plural enceintes
- 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 8241 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 - The line of works forming the main enclosure of a fortress.
- 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
- Frenchenceinte
- Frenchenceinte
- Englishenceinte
Borrowed from French enceinte.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
enceinte. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enceinte
“enceinte.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enceinte. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “enceinte,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/enceinte.
Source: enceinte on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.