Enclosed

How to spell enclosed

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce enclosed

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does enclosed mean?

1. adjectivePlaced inside an envelope or package together with something else, such as a letter or document.
2. adjectiveSurrounded on all sides by a wall, fence, or other barrier.

Enclosed in a sentence

• Please review the enclosed invoice and confirm the total.

• The dogs play safely in the enclosed back garden.

• The enclosed cheque should cover the outstanding balance.

• The office has an enclosed courtyard where staff eat lunch.

Where does enclosed come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the verb 'enclose', which English assembled from the prefix 'en-', meaning 'to put in' or 'to cause to be in', and the Old French 'clos', meaning 'shut' or 'closed'. That French element traces back to the Latin verb 'claudere', which literally meant 'to shut' or 'to close', the same root that gives us 'close', 'closet' and 'conclude'. English began using 'enclose' in the 1300s and 1400s, first in the practical sense of fencing or walling in a piece of land, a meaning that became politically charged during the centuries of agricultural enclosure when common fields were shut off into private holdings. The past participle 'enclosed' later took on its familiar office meaning of something shut inside an envelope or package along with a letter. The single 's' in the middle is the spelling trap: because the root is 'clos' and not 'cloz', writers who hear the soft z-sound can be tempted to double or change the letter, but it stays a simple 's'.

How the word is built

• en- (in, to put into)
• clos (from Latin claudere: to shut)
• -ed (past participle suffix)