Crossword clues for enceinte
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Enceinte \En`ceinte"\, n. [F., fr. enceindre to gird about, surround, L. incingere; in (intens). + cingere to gird. See Cincture.]
(Fort.) The line of works which forms the main inclosure of a fortress or place; -- called also body of the place.
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The area or town inclosed by a line of fortification.
The suburbs are not unfrequently larger than their enceinte.
--S. W. Williams. [1913 Webster] ||
Enceinte \En`ceinte"\, a. [F., fr. L. in not + cinctus, p. p. of cingere to gird about.] Pregnant; with child. [1913 Webster] ||
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"pregnant, with child," c.1600, insente, from French enceinte "pregnant" (12c.), from Late Latin incincta (source of Italian incinta), explained by Isidore of Seville (7c.) as "ungirt," from Latin in-, privative prefix (see in- (1)), + cincta, fem. of cinctus, past participle of cingere "to gird" (see cinch). But perhaps the Late Latin word is from past participle of Latin incingere "to put into a girdle" (that is, "to make (a woman) pregnant"), with in- (2) "in, into." Modern form is 18c., perhaps a reborrowing from French.
Wiktionary
a. (context archaic English) pregnant. n. 1 An enclosure. 2 The line of works forming the main enclosure of a fortress. 3 The area or town enclosed by a line of fortification.
WordNet
Wikipedia
Enceinte (from Latin incinctus: girdled, surrounded), is a French term denoting the "main defensive enclosure of a fortification". For a castle this is the main defensive line of wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the position. For a settlement it would be the main town wall with its associated gatehouses and towers and walls.
According to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, the term was strictly applied to the continuous line of bastions and curtain walls forming "the body of the place", this last expression being often used as synonymous with enceinte. However, the outworks or defensive wall close to the enceinte were not considered as forming part of it. In early 20th-century fortification, the enceinte was usually simply the innermost continuous line of fortifications.
In architecture, generally, an enceinte is the close or precinct of a cathedral, abbey, castle, etc.
Usage examples of "enceinte".
The exposed foundations of the eastern and western walls, where the torrent has washed away the northern enceinte, show that, after the fashion of ancient Egypt, sandstone slabs have been laid underground, the calcaire being reserved for the hypaethral part.
He was forced into marriage while still a minor by the brothers of Ann Hathaway, who was several years his senior, and had debauched him and gave out that she was enceinte by him.
The ditch water, fed by a rivulet from the millstream, seemed shallow enough, but it would still be a cloying obstacle to men trying to assault the gaunt, rough-faced wall of the fort's enceinte.
The ditch water, fed by a rivulet from the millstream, seemed shallow enough, but it would still be a cloying obstacle to men trying to assault the gaunt, rough-faced wall of the forts enceinte.