What is the Latin word for enclose?

The usual Latin words for “enclose” are claudō, conclūdō, inclūdō; also cingō, circumdō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“enclose” in Latin

claudōto shut up, close, lock; to imprison, confine; to encompass, surround conclūdōto conclude, finish; to define; to shut up, confine, contain inclūdōto shut up or in, confine, enclose, imprison, keep in; to obstruct, restrain, hinder; to limit, control cingōto surround, circle, ring, encircle; to gird on; to crown or garland circumdōto surround, enclose, encircle

The English word enclose itself goes back to Latin claudō, through *inclaudo.

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

enclose

claudere (shut up): concludere (to shut quite up by surrounding with anything; in anything, in re): includere (in anything, in re; seldom in the sense of “surrounding with’): cingere (surround with): circumdare (throw round, surround; aliquid alicui and aliquid aliqua re; e.g., moenia urbi, or urbem moenibus). To enclose with a hedge, sepe cingere: sepire; with a wall, muro (muris) sepire; moenibus cingere; with works, operibus complecti (e.g., a hill, collem); with a rampart and ditch, circumdare or sepire vallo et fossa: the enemy, hostem circumvenire: the soul is enclosed in the body, animus in corpore conclusus est; animus in corporis compagibus inclusus est: to enclose a letter, epistolam alteri jungere or adjungere, or cum altera conjungere; epistolam in eundem fasciculum addere (to enclose it in the same packet: ☞ not includere epistolam). Have the goodness to forward the enclosed, epistolam cum hac conjunctam perferendam curabis: to be enclosed by very high mountains, altissimis montibus contineri: to enclose (a passage) in brackets, *uncis (☞ not uncinis) includere: to be enclosed by armies, exercitibus circumcludi (Cic.); claudi (Nep.). [Vid: SHUT UP, SURROUND.] To enclose a town, urbem obsidione claudere, in obsidione tenere (Nep.); corona circumdare; obsidere (Liv.) Vid: BLOCKADE.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for enclose?: The usual Latin words for “enclose” are claudō, conclūdō, inclūdō; also cingō, circumdō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.