enceinte

Borrowed from French enceinte.

enceinte (not comparable)

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

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

• See also Thesaurus:pregnant

enceinte (plural enceintes)

1. An enclosure.
   • 1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p. 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.

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

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.sɛ̃t/

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enceinte f (feminine only, feminine plural enceintes)

1. pregnant

The masculine form enceint is occasionally used for species with male pregnancy, such as seahorses, as well as in metaphorical senses.

enceinte f (plural enceintes)

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

enceinte f

1. feminine singular of the past participle of enceindre

• “enceinte” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

From Latin incincta, feminine of incinctus.

enceinte

1. pregnant

• French: enceinte