ensconce

UK/ɛnˈskɒns/US/ɛnˈskɑns/

verbC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speech — sconce sits at #13,343Too rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Other forms: ensconced

To ensconce is to settle comfortably and securely in a place. Ensconced in an armchair, ensconce himself, safely ensconced.

It is nearly always reflexive or passive and is faintly amused, since somebody ensconced has settled in rather thoroughly. A sconce was a small fort, so the word means putting yourself somewhere safe.

Definitions of ensconce

1verbensconceTo settle comfortably and securely in a place.C2
“By eight o'clock, Grandma was ensconced in her armchair with a cup of cocoa.”

ensconce is a settling.

Where it comes from

En- plus sconce, a small fort or earthwork.

Proto-Indo-European
*deh₃-
Latin
absconsus — hidden
Old French
esconse — lantern
Middle English
sconce
English
sconce
English, today
ensconce

Built from

sconse · Middle English — candlestick or lantern (with screen)
abscondō · Latin — hide

From en + sconce, “to place in a sconce (“fortification”)”. sconce comes from Middle English sconce, sconse (“candlestick or lantern (with screen)”), from Old French esconse (“lantern”), from Latin absconsus (“hidden”), perfect passive participle of abscondō (“hide”). Cognate with abscond.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

← Vocabulary