Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To form a circle or ring around; encircle.
  • transitive verb To enclose; envelop.
  • transitive verb To have as part of something larger; include: synonym: include.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To form a circle about; encircle.
  • To environ; inclose; surround; shut in: as, the besieging army encompassed Jerusalem.
  • To go or sail round: as, Drake encompassed the globe.
  • To get into one's toils; get round; gain power over.
  • To compass or bring about; accomplish.
  • Synonyms To gird, invest, hem in, shut up.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To circumscribe or go round so as to surround closely; to encircle; to inclose; to environ

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To form a circle around; to encircle.
  • verb transitive To include within its scope; to circumscribe or go round so as to surround; to enclose; to contain.
  • verb transitive To include completely; to describe fully or comprehensively.
  • verb transitive To go around, especially, to circumnavigate.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb include in scope; include as part of something broader; have as one's sphere or territory

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

en- +‎ compass

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