Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “ensnare” come from?

Ensnare comes from Middle English en- combined with snare, with the prefix en- from Old French en-, from Latin in-, from the preposition Latin in meaning "in," traced back through Proto-Indo-European ne and ultimately to Proto-Indo-European h₁én.

ensnare (English): To entrap; to catch in a snare or trap; To...

Definitions

  1. To entrap; to catch in a snare or trap; To...

Ancestry of “ensnare”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishEn-—
2Middle Englishen-en-, in-
3Old Frenchen-en-
4Latinīn-—
5Latinîn—
6Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
7Proto-Italicenin
8Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin

Words derived from “ensnare”

  • ensnarement
  • ensnarer
  • ensnareth
  • ensnarest
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én →