Other forms: ensnared, ensnares, ensnaring
To ensnare is to catch somebody in a trap. Ensnare the unwary, ensnared by debt, ensnare him in the plot.
It is nearly always figurative now, and what ensnares people is usually debt, obligation or a scheme rather than rope. The en- prefix means to put into, and the snare it names is a loop that tightens as the animal pulls against it.
1verbensnareTo catch somebody in a trap.
“The spider ensnared the fly in its sticky web.”
ensnare is a trapping.
Proto-Germanic
*snarhǭ — a sling; loop; noose
Proto-West Germanic
*snarhā
Old English
sneare — snare, noose
Middle English
snare
English
snare
English, today
ensnare
From en- + snare. snare comes from Middle English snare, from Old English sneare (“snare, noose”), from Proto-West Germanic snarhā, from Proto-Germanic snarhǭ (“a sling; loop; noose”). Cognate with Old Norse snara. Also related to German Schnur and Dutch snaar, snoer.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA