en

Use En in a sentence

noun

the letter N, n.

Also called nut. Printing. half of the width of an em.

adjective

Printing. having the area of an en quad or the length of an en: en quad; en dash.

Origin:
1785–95

Dictionary.com Unabridged

a prefix occurring originally in loanwords from French and productive in English on this model, forming verbs with the general sense “to cause (a person or thing) to be in” the place, condition, or state named by the stem; more specifically, “to confine in or place on” ( enshrine; enthrone; entomb ); “to cause to be in” ( enslave; entrust; enrich; encourage; endear ); “to restrict” in the manner named by the stem, typically with the additional sense “on all sides, completely” ( enwind; encircle; enclose; entwine ). This prefix is also attached to verbs in order to make them transitive, or to give them a transitive marker if they are already transitive ( enkindle; enliven; enshield; enface ).

Also, before labial consonants, em-¹.

Compare be-, in-².

Origin:
Middle English < Old French < Latin in- in-²

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a prefix meaning “within, in,” occurring in loanwords from Greek: energy; enthusiasm.

Also, before labial consonants, em-².

Origin:
< Greek (often through L); cognate with in-¹, in-²

a suffix formerly used to form transitive and intransitive verbs from adjectives (fasten; harden; sweeten), or from nouns (heighten; lengthen; strengthen).

Origin:
Middle English, Old English -n- (as in Middle English fast-n-en, Old English fǣst-n-ian to make fast, fasten); cognate with -n- of like verbs in other Gmc languages (Old Norse fastna)

a suffix used to form adjectives of source or material from nouns: ashen; golden; oaken.

Origin:
Middle English, Old English; cognate with Old High German -īn, Gothic -eins, Latin -īnus; see -ine¹

a suffix used to mark the past participle in many strong and some weak verbs: taken; proven.

Origin:
Middle English, Old English; cognate with German -en, Old Norse -inn

a suffix used in forming the plural of some nouns: brethren; children; oxen.

Origin:
Middle English; Old English -an, case ending of n-stem nouns, as in naman oblique singular, and nominative and accusative plural of nama name; akin to n-stem forms in other IE languages, as in Latin nōmen, nōmin- name

a diminutive suffix: kitten; maiden.

Origin:
Middle English, Old English, from neuter of -en²

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To en

Collins

World English Dictionary

en (ɛn)

—n
	printing See also ennage Also called: nut a unit of measurement, half the width of an em

EN

—*abbreviation for*
1.	enrolled nurse
2.	English Nature

en- or em-¹

—*prefix forming verbs and verbal derivatives*
1.	(from nouns)
	a. put in or on: entomb; enthrone
	b. go on or into: enplane
	c. surround or cover with: enmesh
	d. furnish with: empower
2.	(from adjectives and nouns) cause to be in a certain condition: enable; encourage; enrich; enslave

[via Old French from Latin in-in-²]

em- or em-¹

—*prefix forming verbs and verbal derivatives*

[via Old French from Latin in-in-²]

en- or em-²

—*prefix forming verbs and verbal derivatives*
	in; into; inside: endemic

[from Greek (often via Latin); compare in-¹, in-²]

em- or em-²

—*prefix forming verbs and verbal derivatives*

[from Greek (often via Latin); compare in-¹, in-²]

-en¹

—*suffix forming verbs*
	cause to be; become; cause to have: blacken; heighten

[Old English -n-, as in fæst-n-ian to fasten, of common Germanic origin; compare Icelandic fastna]

-en²

—*suffix forming adjectives*
	of; made of; resembling: ashen; earthen; wooden

[Old English -en; related to Gothic -eins, Latin -īnus-ine¹]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

en-

prefix meaning "cause to be, make" (endear); "put in or on" (encircle); from O.Fr. en-, from L. in- "in, into." Also used as an intensive (enclose). Spelling variants in O.Fr. brought over into M.E. account for parallels such as assure/insure/ensure. Many words beginning with en- in Mod.Eng. are transparent

(enforce, etc.) and etymologies can be found in listings for their stems. Words listed here include those whose unprefixed form is not an obvious word in Eng. (encroach) or whose meaning has drifted significantly (engrain).

-en

suffix forming verbs (e.g. darken, weaken), from adjectives or from nouns, from O.E. -nian, from P.Gmc. *-inojan. Mostly active in M.E.

-en

suffix added to nouns to produce adjectives meaning made of, of the nature of (e.g. golden, oaken), corresponding to L. -ine. Common in O.E. and M.E., surviving words with it now are largely discarded in everyday use and the simple form of the noun serves as an adjective as well.

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

en- ² or em-
pref.
In; into; within: enzootic.

American Heritage

Abbreviations & Acronyms

en
English

end node
endocardium

Example sentences from the web

En route to the bedroom, pete sees a picture of a man and asks whom it depicts.

It is usually cut en cabochon, or into beads, and is also used for intaglios and cameos.

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