English
enceinte
Enceinte comes from Old French enceinte ‘pregnant’, and goes back to Latin incīnctus ‘draped, wreathed, surrounded’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincīnctusas incīncta‘draped, wreathed, surrounded’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400enceinte‘pregnant’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form
- Englishearliest quotation 1853same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincīnctusas incīncta‘draped, wreathed, surrounded’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400enceinte‘pregnant’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form
- Englishearliest quotation 1853same form
Earliest quotation: 1853, Abbé de St. Michon [i.e., Jean-Hippolyte Michon]: “These labours upon Phœnician necropoli are of great importance.…”
Every English word from Latin incīnctus
Today it means
adj Pregnant.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin incīnctus / enceinte