Dictionary

engross en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ɪŋˈɡɹəʊs/ (US)
• /ɛnˈɡɹoʊs/ (US)
• (US) audio
• /ɪnˈɡɹəʊs/ (US)
• /ɛŋˈɡɹəʊs/ (UK)
• /ɪŋˈɡɹəʊs/ (UK)
• /ɛnˈɡɹəʊs/ (UK)
• /ɪnˈɡɹəʊs/ (UK)
• /ɛŋˈɡɹoʊs/ (US)
• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From Middle English engrossen, from Anglo-Norman engrosser (“to gather in large quantities, draft something in final form”); partly from the phrase en gros (“in bulk, in quantity, at wholesale”), from en- + gros; and partly from Medieval Latin ingrossō (“thicken, write something large and in bold lettering”, v.), from in- + grossus (“great, big, thick”), from Old High German grōz (“big, thick, coarse”), from Proto-West Germanic *graut, from Proto-Germanic *grautaz (“large, great, thick, coarse grained, unrefined”), from Proto-Indo-European *ghrewə- (“to fell, put down, fall in”). More at in-, gross. By surface analysis, en- + gross.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To write (a document) in large, aesthetic, and legible lettering; to make a finalized copy of.
   • Wherefore Mr. Micawber […] set to work at the petition, invented it, engrossed it on an immense sheet of paper, spread it out on a table, and appointed a time for all the club, and all within the walls if they chose, to come up to his room and sign it. 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:
   • laws that may be engrossed upon a finger nail 1846, Thomas De Quincey, “On Christianity, as an Organ of Political Movement”, in Tait’s Edinburgh Magazine:
   • This envelope had the air of an official record of some period long past, when clerks engrossed their stiff and formal chirography on more substantial materials than at present. 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Custom-house. Introductory to ‘The Scarlet Letter.’”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 34:
2. (obsolete, transitive) To buy up wholesale, especially to buy the whole supply of (a commodity etc.).
3. (transitive) To monopolize; to concentrate (something) in the single possession of someone, especially unfairly.
   • After which time the Popes of Rome, engroſſing what they pleas'd of Politicall rule into their owne hands, extended their dominion over mens eyes, as they had before over their judgements, burning and prohibiting to be read, what they fanſied not; […] 1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 7:
   • Octavian then engrosses for himself proconsular powers for ten years in all the provinces where more than one legion was stationed, giving him effective control of the army 2007, John Burrow, A History of Histories, Penguin Books, published 2009, pages 125–126:
   • The Coral Islands are principally visited by the pearl-shell fishermen, who arrive in small schooners, carrying not more than five or six men. For a long while the business was engrossed by Merenhout, the French Consul at Tahiti, but a Dutchman by birth, who, in one year, is said to have sent to France fifty thousand dollars' worth of shells. 1847 March 30, Herman Melville, Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:
4. (transitive) To completely engage the attention of; to involve.
   • She seems to be completely engrossed in that book.
   • Having made a few vain attempts at engrossing my attention in my book, I was obliged to let myself be carried away by the impetuous torrent of the squire's eloquence. 1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 250:
5. (obsolete, transitive) To thicken; to condense.
   • As, when a foggy miſt hath ouercaſt / The face of heuen, and the cleare ayre engroſte, / The world in darkenes dwels, […] 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 13, page 447:
6. (obsolete, transitive) To make gross, thick, or large; to thicken; to increase in bulk or quantity.
   • Not ſleeping to ingroſſe his idle body, / But praying to inrich his watchfull ſoule. c. 1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Sims [and Peter Short] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act III, scene vii]:
   • The waues thereof ſo ſlow and ſluggiſh were, / Engroſt with mud, which did them fowle agriſe, / That euery weighty thing they did vpbeare, / Ne ought mote euer ſinck downe to the bottom there. 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 46, page 269:
7. (obsolete) To amass.
   • Percy is but my factor, good my Lord, / To engroſſe vp glorious deeds on my behalfe. c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

Forms

Coordinates

longhand

Deriveds

engrossment · engrossing

Relateds

gross

Synonyms

inspissate · hoard · uphoard · inspissate · reduce · hoard · thick · amound · enwrap · condense · amass · squirrel away · thicken · engross · wrap · incrassate · packrat · corner the market · get up · rathole · engross · amound · niggard · intreasure

Translations (64)

ru писать набело (to write in large and clear script) · cs pohltit (to engage completely) · it accaparrare (to monopolize; to concentrate possession) · fr fasciner (to engage completely) · fr captiver (to engage completely) · es engordar (to make gross or fat) · es monopolizar (to monopolize; to concentrate possession) · fr polariser (to engage completely) · it incettare (to buy up wholesale) · fr ravir (to engage completely) · it ingrassare (to make gross or fat) · bg пиша с големи букви (to write in large and clear script) · fr accaparer (to monopolize; to concentrate possession) · ru копить (to monopolize; to concentrate possession) · ru писать крупными чёткими буквами (to write in large and clear script) · es hechizar (to engage completely) · es embeleñar (to engage completely) · ru углубляться (to engage completely) · ru уходи́ть с головой (to engage completely) · fr passionner (to engage completely) · fr charmer (to engage completely) · es acaparar (to monopolize; to concentrate possession) · es cautivar (to engage completely) · ru откармливать (to make gross or fat) · fr truster (to monopolize; to concentrate possession) · es alzarse con (to buy up wholesale) · es apandar (to buy up wholesale) · fi viedä kaikki huomio (to engage completely) · fi tekstata (to write in large and clear script) · fr accaparer (to buy up wholesale) · es arrobar (to engage completely) · ru монополизировать (to monopolize; to concentrate possession) · cmn 全神贯注 (to engage completely) · es fascinar (to engage completely) · es arramblar (to buy up wholesale) · fr monopoliser (to monopolize; to concentrate possession) · fr grossoyer (to write in large and clear script) · es captar (to engage completely) · bg завладявам (to engage completely) · fr s'emparer de (to buy up wholesale) · fi kahmia (to buy up wholesale) · it captare (to engage completely) · es embelesar (to engage completely) · es engrosar (to make gross or fat) · ru накоплять (to monopolize; to concentrate possession) · fr envoûter (to engage completely) · th ง่วน (to engage completely) · fr rafler (to buy up wholesale) · fr capter (to engage completely) · fi syventyä (to engage completely) · fr obséder (to engage completely) · bg купувам на едро (to buy up wholesale) · bg монополизирам (to monopolize; to concentrate possession) · es embebecer (to engage completely) · fi lihottaa (to make gross or fat) · es echar carnes (to make gross or fat) · es encantar (to engage completely) · es polarizar (to engage completely) · eo absorbi (to engage completely) · es acaparar (to buy up wholesale) · fr engraisser (to make gross or fat) · es captivar (to engage completely) · ru собира́ть (to monopolize; to concentrate possession) · fr obnubiler (to engage completely)