en·com·pass  ( ĕn-k ŭm p əs)
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tr.v. en·com·passed, en·com·pass·ing, en·com·pass·es 1. To form a circle or ring around; encircle. 2. To enclose; envelop: "The blackness of the eternal night encompassed me" (Edgar Allan Poe). 3. To have as part of something larger; include: a galaxy encompassing billions of stars. See Synonyms at include.
en·compass·ment n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices
Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:
Indo-European Roots
Semitic Roots
The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.
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