English

Alternative forms

• inclosure (was as common as or more common until the early 1800s; now uncommon)

Noun

enclosure ‎(countable and uncountable, plural enclosures)

1. (countable) Something enclosed, i.e. inserted into a letter or similar package.

   There was an enclosure with the letter — a photo.

2. (uncountable) The act of enclosing, i.e. the insertion or inclusion of an item in a letter or package.

   The enclosure of a photo with your letter is appreciated.

3. (countable) An area, domain, or amount of something partially or entirely enclosed by barriers.

   He faced punishment for creating the fenced enclosure in a public park.

   The glass enclosure holds the mercury vapor.

   The winning horse was first into the unsaddling enclosure.

4. (uncountable) The act of separating and surrounding an area, domain, or amount of something with a barrier.

   The enclosure of public land is against the law.

   The experiment requires the enclosure of mercury vapor in a glass tube.

   At first, untrained horses resist enclosure.

5. (uncountable, British History) The post-feudal process of subdivision of common lands for individual ownership.

   Strip-farming disappeared after enclosure.

6. (religion) The area of a convent, monastery, etc where access is restricted to community members.

Usage notes

• For more on the spelling of this word, see enclose.

Translations

Old French

Alternative forms

• encloseure

Etymology

enclos-, stem of enclore +‎ -ure.

Noun

enclosure f ‎(oblique plural enclosures, nominative singular enclosure, nominative plural enclosures)

1. enclosure (act of enclosing something)
2. enclosure (enclosed area)

References

• (fr) Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (encloseure)
• enclosure on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub