noun · 11 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
US:/ɛnˈkloʊʒəɹ/
US:/ɪnˈkloʊʒəɹ/
UK:/ɪnˈkləʊʒə/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
New-Zealand:/ɘnˈklɐʉʒɘ/
CMU ARPABET:EH0 N K L OW1 ZH ER0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:IH0 N K L OW1 ZH ER0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Something that is enclosed, i.e. inserted into a letter or similar package.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
Examples
There was an enclosure with the letter — a photo.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The act of enclosing, i.e. the insertion or inclusion of an item in a letter or package.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Examples
The enclosure of a photo with your letter is appreciated.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
An area, domain, or amount of something partially or entirely enclosed by barriers.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
Examples
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.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
The act of separating and surrounding an area, domain, or amount of something with a barrier.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Examples
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.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
The act of restricting access to ideas, works of art or technologies using patents or intellectual property laws.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
The post-feudal process of subdivision of common lands for individual ownership.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Qualifier: British History
Examples
Strip-farming disappeared after enclosure.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
The area of a convent, monastery, etc where access is restricted to community members.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: lifestyle, religion
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
the act of enclosing something inside something else
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
something (usually a supporting document) that is enclosed in an envelope with a covering letter
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: inclosure
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: document, written document, papers
11
noun
Meaning 11
a naturally enclosed space
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: natural enclosure
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: space
Narrower terms: cavern, matrix
History
Etymology
From Middle English enclosure, from Old French enclosure, from enclore, from Latin inclūdere, inclūdō, from in- (“in”) + claudō (“to shut”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kleh2u- (“key, hook, nail”). Alike to inclusion.
Across languages
Translations
108 source translations are retained for this English entry.