Words related to en-
mid-15c., insuren, spelling variant of ensuren "to assure, give formal assurance" (late 14c.), also "make secure, make safe" (c. 1400), from Anglo-French enseurer, Old French ensurer, from en- "make" (see en- (1)) + seur, sur "safe, secure, undoubted" (see sure (adj.)).
The particular commercial senses of "make safe against loss by payment of premiums; undertake to ensure against loss, etc." are from mid-17c. (replacing assure in that meaning). Related: Insured; insuring.
"having no brain" (biology), 1821, with -ic + Latinized form of Greek anenkephalos, from an- "not, without" (see an- (1)) + enkephalos "brain," "the brain," literally "within the head," from en "in" (see en- (2)) + kephalē "head;" see cephalo-. Related: Anencephalous (1834); anencephalia; anencephaly.
1560s, "an ellipse" in geometry, from Latin ellipsis, from Greek elleipsis "a falling short, defect, ellipse in grammar," noun of action from elleipein "to fall short, leave out," from en- "in" (see en- (1)) + leipein "to leave" (from PIE root *leikw- "to leave").
Grammatical and rhetorical sense in English first recorded 1610s: "a figure of syntax in which a part of a sentence or phrase is used for the whole, by the omission of one or more words, leaving the full form to be understood or completed by the reader or hearer."
In printing, "a mark or marks denoting the omission of letters, words, or sentences," by 1867. Dashes, asterisks, and period have been used to indicate it. In reading aloud, a short pause was proper at a grammatical ellipsis in the writing.
WHEN a word or words are omitted by the figure ellipsis, a pause is necessary where the ellipsis occurs. [Robert James Ball, "The Academic Cicero; or Exercises in Modern Oratory," Dublin, 1823]
Probably the association of the typographical symbol with a pause in speaking is why 20c. writers began to use the three periods to denote a pause or an interruption in dialogue, creating a potential confusion noted by 1939. Related: Ellipticity.
late 14c., embaumen "to apply balm or ointment; to embalm a corpse," from Old French embaumer, earlier embausmer, "preserve (a corpse) with spices," from assimilated form of en- "in" (see en- (1)) + baume "balm" (see balm) + verbal suffix -er. Balm in Middle English also had a specific sense of "aromatic preparation for embalming dead bodies." The -l- was inserted in English 1500s in imitation of Latin. Related: Embalmed; embalming.
mid-14c., "to render beautiful," from Old French embelliss-, stem of embellir "make beautiful, ornament," from assimilated form of en- (see en- (1)) + bel "beautiful," from Latin bellus "handsome, pretty, fine" (see belle). Meaning "dress up (a narration) with fictitious matter" is from mid-15c. Related: Embellished; embellishing.
early 15c., "make away with money or property of another, steal," from Anglo-French enbesiler "to steal, cause to disappear" (c. 1300), from Old French em- (see en- (1)) + besillier "torment, destroy, gouge," which is of unknown origin. Sense of "dispose of fraudulently to one's own use," is first recorded 1580s. Related: Embezzled; embezzling.
