enceinte
nounEtymology Borrowed from French enceinte.
1
An enclosure.
- These labours upon Phœnician necropoli are of great importance. [...] M. [Louis Félicien] de Saulcy, one of the first travellers who has thrown light upon these necropoli, devoted himself to a very interesting examination of the tombs of the kings, of the prophets and judges, and upon the immense necropolis that surrounds Jerusalem, like a funeral enceinte.1853, Abbé de St. Michon [i.e., Jean-Hippolyte Michon], chapter XIV, in [anonymous], transl., Narrative of a Religious Journey in the East in 1850 and 1851, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 338:
- And so across the bridge and into the enceinte of the massive walls, threading their way towards the quarter where the morgue lay.1982, Lawrence Durrell, Constance (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 2004, page 824:
2
The line of works forming the main enclosure of a fortress.
3
The area or town enclosed by a line of fortification.
- S. W. Williams The suburbs are not unfrequently larger than their enceinte.