▪ I. inˈcluse, a. and n. Obs. exc. Hist.
[ad. L. inclūs-us, pa. pple. of inclūdĕre to shut in. Cf. obs. F. enclus anchorite (14th c. in Godef.), whence the form encluse, q.v.]
A. adj. Shut up as an anchorite.
| c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. 42 Þou sall be safe as ane ankir incluse. c 1440 Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) i. xliv. 1715 M.Davies Athen. Brit. I. Pref. 20 The Incluse Anchoret Peter, from the Confines of Spain. |
B. n. An anchorite.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) VII. 81 A religious man and pilgreme..whiche hade lernede of an incluse [Trevisa, of a man recluse] that sowles of dedde men were punysched for theire synnes in a place of the see nye to Sicille. 1868 Kingsley Hermits 330 Through these apertures the ‘incluse’ or anker, watched the celebration of mass, and partook of the Holy Communion. 1871 H. Macmillan True Vine vi. 268 Those incluses, or ‘holy men of the stone’, during the middle age lived for years in a small cell built up around them, beside the wall of a cathedral. 1881 T. E. Bridgett Hist. Holy Eucharist II. 180 The Incluse or Recluse..was confined within fixed and narrow limits. |
▪ II. † inˈcluse, v. Obs.
[f. L. inclūs- ppl. stem: see prec. At first only in pa. pple. inclused, f. as prec. + -ed.]
1. trans. To enclose, shut up.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) IV. 141 This Cithero did write so subtily alle the batelle of Troy that hit semede as inclusede withynne the schelle of a nutte. 1474 Caxton Chesse iv. ii. R iij b, Yf he be taken or deed or ellys Inclusid and shette up..al is finysshed and lost. 1496 Dives & Paup. (W. de W.) vi. xiii. 253/1 Of wymen ancres so inclused is seldon herde ony of these defautes. 1570 Satir. Poems Reform. xii. 129 Keip not Capua quhil ȝone knaifis incluse ȝow. 1571 Ibid. xxxvi. 84 Þe Quene wes in the Louche Inclusit. 1578 Archpriest. Controv. (Camden) I. 91 The inclused monkes of that Diocese. 1597 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 282 Within my cairfull corpis incluissit, In presoun of my breist. |
2. To close, shut (a house, the eyes, etc.). In quot. intr. for refl.
| 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxiv. 46 My ene for paine incluse and steik. |