Dictionary

enchain en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ɪnˈtʃeɪn/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₁én Proto-Italic *en Proto-Italic *en- Latin in- Old French en-bor. Middle English en- English en- Proto-Italic *katesnā Latin catēna Old French chaeinebor. Middle English cheyne English chain English enchain From en- + chain.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To restrain with, or as if with, chains.
   • [B]y this sign one enchained the demons of the air, the spirits of fire, the phantoms of water and ghosts of earth. 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 152:
   • Powerful as were his own feelings, almost tempting him to throw himself at her feet, and make a full acknowledgment of his unvaried and never-ceasing love; yet his recollections of Harcourt, and circumstances therewith connected, the certainty of his expected arrival in England, restrained his utterance, threw a sort of spell over him, enchained by a species of self-command insupportably agonizing. 1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter XIX, in Duty and Inclination: […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 239:
2. (transitive) To link together.

Forms

Deriveds

disenchain · enchainment

Translations (11)

br chadennañ (to restrain with, or as if with, chains) · ota زنجیرلمك (to restrain with, or as if with, chains) · tr zincirlemek (to restrain with, or as if with, chains) · sq mbërthej (to restrain with, or as if with, chains) · el αλυσοδένω (to restrain with, or as if with, chains) · bg оковавам (to restrain with, or as if with, chains) · es encadenar (to restrain with, or as if with, chains) · it incatenare (to restrain with, or as if with, chains) · cs spoutat (to restrain with, or as if with, chains) · it catenare (to restrain with, or as if with, chains) · io katenizar (to restrain with, or as if with, chains)