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Webster 1913 Edition

Enter

En′ter

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Entered
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Entering
.]
[OE.
entren
,
enteren
, F.
entrer
, fr. L.
intrare
, fr.
intro
inward, contr. fr.
intero
(sc.
loco
), fr.
inter
in between, between. See
Inter-
,
In
, and cf.
Interior
.]
1.
To come or go into; to pass into the interior of; to pass within the outer cover or shell of; to penetrate; to pierce;
as, to
enter
a house, a closet, a country, a door, etc.; the river
enters
the sea.
That darksome cave they
enter
.
Spenser.
I, . . . with the multitude of my redeemed,
Shall
enter
heaven, long absent.
Milton.
2.
To unite in; to join; to be admitted to; to become a member of;
as, to
enter
an association, a college, an army
.
3.
To engage in; to become occupied with;
as, to
enter
the legal profession, the book trade, etc.
4.
To pass within the limits of; to attain; to begin; to commence upon;
as, to
enter
one’s teens, a new era, a new dispensation
.
5.
To cause to go (into), or to be received (into); to put in; to insert; to cause to be admitted;
as, to
enter
a knife into a piece of wood, a wedge into a log; to
enter
a boy at college, a horse for a race, etc.
6.
To inscribe; to enroll; to record;
as, to
enter
a name, or a date, in a book, or a book in a catalogue; to
enter
the particulars of a sale in an account, a manifest of a ship or of merchandise at the customhouse.
7.
(Law)
(a)
To go into or upon, as lands, and take actual possession of them.
(b)
To place in regular form before the court, usually in writing; to put upon record in proper from and order;
as, to
enter
a writ, appearance, rule, or judgment
.
Burrill.
8.
To make report of (a vessel or her cargo) at the customhouse; to submit a statement of (imported goods), with the original invoices, to the proper officer of the customs for estimating the duties. See
Entry
, 4.
9.
To file or inscribe upon the records of the land office the required particulars concerning (a quantity of public land) in order to entitle a person to a right of preëmption.
[U.S.]
Abbott.
10.
To deposit for copyright the title or description of (a book, picture, map, etc.);
as, “
entered
according to act of Congress
.”
11.
To initiate; to introduce favorably.
[Obs.]
Shak.

En′ter

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To go or come in; – often with in used pleonastically; also, to begin; to take the first steps.
“The year entering.”
Evelyn.
No evil thing approach nor
enter
in.
Milton.
Truth is fallen in the street, and equity can not
enter
.
Is. lix. 14.
For we which have believed do
enter
into rest.
Heb. iv. 3.
2.
To get admission; to introduce one's self; to penetrate; to form or constitute a part; to become a partaker or participant; to share; to engage; – usually with into; sometimes with on or upon;
as, a ball
enters
into the body; water
enters
into a ship; he
enters
into the plan; to
enter
into a quarrel; a merchant
enters
into partnership with some one; to
enter
upon another's land; the boy
enters
on his tenth year; to
enter
upon a task; lead
enters
into the composition of pewter.
3.
To penetrate mentally; to consider attentively; – with into.
He is particularly pleased with . . . Sallust for his
entering
into internal principles of action.
Addison.

Webster 1828 Edition

Enter

EN'TER

,
Verb.
T.
[L. inter, intra, whence intro, to enter. The L. inter seems to be in, with the termination ter, as in subter, from sub.]
1.
To move or pass into place, in any manner whatever; to come or go in; to walk or ride in; to flow in; to pierce or penetrate. A man enters a house; an army enters a city or a camp; a river enters the sea; a sword enters the body; the air enters a room at every crevice.
2.
To advance into, in the progress of life; as, a youth has entered his tenth year.
3.
To begin in a business, employment or service; to enlist or engage in; as, the soldier entered the service at eighteen years of age.
4.
To become a member of; as, to enter college; to enter a society.
5.
To admit or introduce; as, the youth was entered a member of College.
6.
To set down in writing; to set an account in a book or register; as, the clerk entered the account or charge in the journal; he entered debt and credit at the time.
7.
To set down, as a name; to enroll; as, to enter a name in the enlistment.
8.
To lodge a manifest of goods at the custom-house, and gain admittance or permission to land; as, to enter goods. We say also, to enter a ship at the custom-house.

EN'TER

,
Verb.
I.
To go or come in; to pass into; as, to enter a country.
1.
To flow in; as, water enters into a ship.
2.
To pierce; to penetrate; as, a ball or an arrow enters into the body.
3.
To penetrate mentally; as, to enter into the principles of action.
4.
To engage in; as, to enter into business or service; to enter into visionary projects.
5.
To be initiated in; as, to enter into a taste of pleasure or magnificence.
6.
To be an ingredient; to form a constituent part. Lead enters into the composition of pewter.

Definition 2024

Enter

Enter

See also: enter, Enter., and enter-

English

Enter-key marked with green, Return-key with red

Alternative forms

Noun

Enter ‎(plural Enters)

  1. The "Enter" key on a computer keyboard.
  2. A stroke of the Enter key.

Translations

enter

enter

See also: Enter, Enter., and enter-

English

Alternative forms

  • entre (archaic, before circa 1700)

Verb

enter ‎(third-person singular simple present enters, present participle entering, simple past and past participle entered)

  1. (intransitive) To go or come into an enclosed or partially enclosed space.
    You should knock before you enter, unless you want to see me naked.‎
    • 1555, John Proctor, The historie of Wyates rebellion, with the order and maner of resisting the same, …, page 86:
      […] you can fynde in youre heartes to assaulte her with rebellion, or in any wise [ways] suffer any one eyvil motion to enter into your thoughtes against her?
    • 1611, Bible (KJV), John 3:5:
      Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
    • 1893, Walter Besant, The Ivory Gate, chapter III:
      In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass. […] Strangers might enter the room, but they were made to feel that they were there on sufferance: they were received with distance and suspicion.
  2. (transitive) To cause to go (into), or to be received (into); to put in; to insert; to cause to be admitted.
    to enter a knife into a piece of wood;  to enter a boy at college, a horse for a race, etc.‎
  3. (figuratively) To go or come into (a state or profession).
    My twelve-year-old son will be entering his teens next year.  She had planned to enter the legal profession.‎
  4. (transitive) To type (something) into a computer; to input.
    Enter your user name and password.‎
  5. (transitive) To record (something) in an account, ledger, etc.
    • 2003, A. Mukherjee and M. Hanif, Financial Accounting, ISBN 978-0-87083-038-9, pages 27:
      Each amount entered in the debit column of the journal is posted by entering it on the credit side/column of of an account in the ledger.
  6. (intransitive, law) To become a party to an agreement, treaty, etc.
  7. (law, intransitive) To become effective; to come into effect.
    • 2005, United Nations, Dispositions Législatives Et Réglementaires Nationales Relatives À la Prévention Et À L'élimination Du Terrorisme International, ISBN 978-92-1-033093-0, page 215:
      This Act shall enter into force on 01 March 1998.
  8. (law) To go into or upon, as lands, and take actual possession of them.
  9. (transitive, law) To place in regular form before the court, usually in writing; to put upon record in proper from and order.
    to enter a writ, appearance, rule, or judgment
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Burrill to this entry?)
  10. to make report of (a vessel or its cargo) at the custom house; to submit a statement of (imported goods), with the original invoices, to the proper customs officer for estimating the duties. See entry.
  11. (transitive, US, dated, historical) To file, or register with the land office, the required particulars concerning (a quantity of public land) in order to entitle a person to a right of preemption.
    • 1887, United States General Land Office, Annual Report of the Commissioner of General Land Office, US Government Printing Office, page 82:
      Under existing laws governing the qualifications of an alien to enter 160 acres or more of the public domain he is only required to file his declaration of intent to become a citizen.
  12. to deposit for copyright the title or description of (a book, picture, map, etc.).
    entered according to act of Congress
  13. (transitive, obsolete) To initiate; to introduce favourably.

Synonyms

Antonyms

  • (intransitive) exit

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

Enter-key marked with green, Return-key with red

enter ‎(plural enters)

  1. (computing) Alternative spelling of Enter ‎(“the computer key”)
  2. (computing) Alternative spelling of Enter ‎(“a stroke of the computer key”)

Translations

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: nation · legal · spread · #966: enter · consider · provided · Rome

Anagrams

Catalan

Etymology

From Old Provençal, from Latin integer, integrum. Compare Occitan entièr, French entier, Spanish entero. Doublet of íntegre, a later borrowing.

Adjective

enter m ‎(feminine entera, masculine plural enters, feminine plural enteres)

  1. entire
  2. complete

Noun

enter m ‎(plural enters)

  1. whole number, integer
  2. a complete lottery ticket (made up of ten dècims)

Related terms

French

Etymology

From a Vulgar Latin *imptāre, contraction of *imputō, imputāre ‎(“I graft”) (unrelated to imputō ‎(“I reckon, attribute”)), from inpotus (attested in Salic Law), from Ancient Greek ἔμφυτος ‎(émphutos, “planted”). The Greek word may have actually reached Gaul through traders at the Mediterranean coastal colonies before the Roman conquest.

Verb

enter

  1. (agriculture) to graft
  2. to implant

Conjugation

Anagrams

Gaulish

Alternative forms

  • entar

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *enter ‎(“between”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁enter ‎(“between”). Cognates include Celtiberian entara ‎(“between”), Old Irish eter ‎(“between”) (Irish idir ‎(“between, both”)), Latin inter ‎(“between”), Sanskrit अन्तर् ‎(antár, “between, within, into”), Oscan 𐌀𐌍𐌕𐌄𐌓 ‎(anter, “between”), and Old High German untar ‎(“between”).

Preposition

enter

  1. between, among

References

  • Xavier Delamarre, Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental, published 2003, ISBN 2-87772-237-6, page 163.
  • Ranko Matasović, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, published 2009, ISBN 978-90-04-17336-1, page 117.

German

Verb

enter

  1. First-person singular present of entern.
  2. Imperative singular of entern.

Polish

Pronunciation

IPA(key): /ˈɛn.tɛr/

Noun

enter m inan

  1. (computing) Enter (key on a computer keyboard)

Declension

Etymology

From Middle English entren, a borrowing from Old French entrer, from Latin intrō, from intrā ‎(“inside”). Has been spelled as "enter" for several centuries even in the United Kingdom, although British English retains the "re" ending for many words such as centre, fibre, spectre, theatre, calibre, sombre, lustre, and litre.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɛntə(ɹ)/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈɛntɚ/, [ˈɛɾ̃ɚ]
  • Rhymes: -ɛntə(r)
  • Homophone: inner (pin-pen merger)
  • Hyphenation: en‧ter

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