encompass

English

WOTD – 22 August 2006

Alternative forms

• incompass (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English encompassen, equivalent to en- +‎ compass.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈkʌmpəs/, /ən-/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈkʌmpəs/, /-ˈkɑmpəs/, /ɛn-/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈkampəs/

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: en‧com‧pass

Verb

encompass (third-person singular simple present encompasses, present participle encompassing, simple past and past participle encompassed)

1. (transitive) To form a circle around; to encircle.
2. (transitive) To include within its scope; to circumscribe or go round so as to surround; to enclose; to contain.

   Synonym: embrace

   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene i:

     his piercing inſtruments of ſight:
     Whose fiery circles beare encompaſſed
     A heauen of heauenly bodies in their Spheares:

   • 1994, Richard Mowery Andrews, Law, Magistracy, and Crime in Old Regime Paris, page 551:

     Those trajectories encompassed absolute social extremes: the kings of France making their solemn entries into Paris through the Ludovician Arch of the Porte [...]

   • 2017, Paul B. Stretesky, Michael J. Lynch, Radical and Marxist Theories of Crime:

     In order to address the systematic, processual character of interpersonal interactions — the larger mosaic of micro-level patterns — we must postulate subapparent but encompassing structures of social activity.

   • 2020 March 6, Catherine Opie, “Catherine Opie: ‘Beauty has to encompass more about the human condition’”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     Beauty is complicated; it’s an individual response to how we live our lives – but it can also encompass kindness and compassion.

   • 2024 October 3, CARY, “Spooktober: The Horror that Surrounds”, in VIRTUAL BASTION‎^[2]:

     In developing a new theme for this year’s rounds of Spooktober posts, we decided to look beyond the realm of strictly horror games to cover a topic that we hadn’t touched on before, one that encompasses games generally and allows for a little “outside the box” thinking. Our Spooktober theme this year is “The Horror that Surrounds.”

3. (transitive) To include completely; to describe fully or comprehensively.

   Synonym: (now rare) comprehend

   This book on English grammar encompasses all irregular verbs.

4. (transitive) To go around, especially, to circumnavigate.

   Drake encompassed the globe.

Derived terms

• all-encompassing
• encompassable
• encompasser
• encompassingly
• unencompassed

Related terms

• encompassment

Translations

encircle

• Bulgarian: обкръжавам (bg) (obkrǎžavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 包围 (zh) (bāowéi)

• Finnish: ympäröidä (fi)
• French: encercler (fr)
• Georgian: გარშემოვლება (garšemovleba)
• German: umschließen (de), umgeben (de), umfassen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌱𐌹𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌱𐌾𐌰𐌽 (biwaibjan)
• Greek: περικυκλώ (perikykló)
• Irish: timpeallaigh
• Italian: circondare (it)
• Middle English: compassen
• Polish: otaczać (pl) impf, otoczyć (pl) pf
• Portuguese: cercar (pt), circundar (pt)
• Russian: окружа́ть (ru) impf (okružátʹ), окружи́ть (ru) pf (okružítʹ)
• Sanskrit: वेवेष्टि (sa) (veveṣṭi)
• Spanish: circundar (es)
• Swedish: inringa (sv)

surround

• Bulgarian: обхващам (bg) (obhvaštam), заобикалям (bg) (zaobikaljam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 围绕 (zh)

• Danish: omfatte
• Dutch: omvatten (nl)
• Faroese: fevna um
• Finnish: ympäröidä (fi), sisältää (fi)
• French: entourer (fr)
• Georgian: გარშემორტყმა (garšemorṭq̇ma)
• German: umfassen (de), enthalten (de), einschließen (de)
• Greek: περικλείω (el) (perikleío), περιβάλλω (el) (perivállo)

  Ancient: περιέχω (periékhō)

• Icelandic: felast
• Italian: racchiudere (it), comprendere (it)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: dorpêç kirin (ku)

• Middle English: encompassen, compassen
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: omfatte (no)

  Nynorsk: omfatta

• Old English: bebūgan
• Portuguese: rodear (pt), circundar (pt), conter (pt)
• Russian: охва́тывать (ru) (oxvátyvatʹ), охвати́ть (ru) pf (oxvatítʹ)
• Sanskrit: वेवेष्टि (sa) (veveṣṭi)
• Spanish: rodear (es), circundar (es)
• Swedish: omfatta (sv)

include

• Bulgarian: включвам (bg) (vključvam), съдържам (bg) (sǎdǎržam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 包含 (zh) (bāohán)

• Czech: zahrnovat (cs)
• Danish: omfatte, indeholde (da), inkludere (da), indbefatte (da)
• Dutch: bevatten (nl)
• Esperanto: ampleksi
• Finnish: käsittää (fi), sisältää (fi)
• French: englober (fr), inclure (fr), comprendre (fr), renfermer (fr)
• Georgian: მოიცავს (moicavs), მოცვა (mocva)
• German: umfassen (de), beinhalten (de), abdecken (de)
• Greek: περιλαμβάνω (el) (perilamváno)
• Italian: includere (it), racchiudere (it), circoscrivere (it)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: hindirrandin (ku), hewandin (ku)

• Middle English: compassen
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: omfatte (no), inneholde, inkludere

• Polish: obejmować (pl) impf
• Portuguese: compreender (pt), abarcar (pt), englobar (pt)
• Russian: включа́ть (ru) impf (vključátʹ), включи́ть (ru) pf (vključítʹ), заключа́ть (ru) impf (zaključátʹ), заключи́ть (ru) pf (zaključítʹ), содержа́ть (ru) impf (soderžátʹ)
• Spanish: abarcar (es), englobar (es)
• Swedish: omfatta (sv), innehålla (sv), inkludera (sv)

References

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “encompass”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “encompass”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.