Engirding

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Act of forming a circle around an object or area to enclose it
2. The process of encompassing something completely by wrapping or bounding it
3. Surrounding or enclosing something on all sides as if forming a continuous band

Etymology: "Engirding" is the present participle of "engird," which is formed from the prefix en- and the verb "gird." The base verb "gird" is old and originally meant to strike or hit, as in a blow with a stick or switch, before it came to mean fastening a belt or band around the body. From that sense of binding something around, "engird" took on the idea of encircling something completely. The prefix en- means "in" or "into" and was added to many verbs in English to make them mean "to put around" or "to surround." The result is a word that carries the notion of a band or girdle wrapped all the way around something. The participle form "engirding" is what gives the word its sense of an action that is ongoing, as in a wall engirding a town.

Synonyms: surrounding, encircling, encompassing