Enrolment

How to spell enrolment

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce enrolment

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does enrolment mean?

1. nounThe act of officially signing up or registering as a member, student, or participant, or the number of people so registered.

Enrolment in a sentence

• The college reported a sharp rise in student enrolment this autumn.

• You must complete the enrolment form before the first day of term.

Where does enrolment come from?

Language of origin: French

This word traces back to the Old French enroller, meaning literally 'to put on a roll', where the 'roll' was a rolled-up sheet of parchment used as an official register or list. The 'roll' element ultimately comes from the Latin rotulus, meaning 'a little wheel' and so a rolled scroll, a relative of the same family that gives us 'roll' and 'rotate'. When you enrolled, you were quite literally having your name written onto the official scroll of members or students. English took up the verb in the late medieval period and later built the abstract noun with the French-derived ending -ment, which forms nouns of action or state. The single-l spelling in this British and Canadian form is the chief trap: although the verb 'enrol' takes a second l when it adds endings like 'enrolled', the noun 'enrolment' keeps just one l before -ment, mirroring 'fulfilment' and 'instalment'.

How the word is built

• en- (in, into)
• rol (roll: a register or official list)
• -ment (noun-forming suffix)