envelop, v.
(ɛnˈvɛləp)
Forms: α. 4–5 envolupe(n, -ipe(n, 7–8 envellop, 6– envelop(e. β. 6 involup, 7–8 invellop(e, 6–8 invelop(e.
[a. OF. envolupe-r, enveloper (mod. envelopper) = Pr. envolupar, envelopar, f. en- (see en-1) + *volup-, *velop-, cogn. with It. viluppo bundle, whence inviluppare to envelope. Cf. develop, voluper.
The Romanic base volup-, vilup- is of obscure origin; some regard it as Teut., comparing ME. wlappen to lap, wrap, which, however, is not known outside Eng., and is by Prof. Skeat regarded as an altered form of wrap. Diez suggested that a late L. *volutuāre (f. volvĕre to roll) became *voluppāre, but the analogies offered for this phonetic process are unsatisfactory.]
1. trans. To wrap up in, or as in, a garment or outer covering. Also fig.
| 1386 Chaucer Pard. T. 614 For he is most envoliped in synne. 1406 Hoccleve Misrule 245 If that yee been envolupid in cryme. 1513 Douglas æneis vii. iii. 67 With ane grene branche of tre He did involup and aray his heid. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 93 Eares so large, that they invelope their whole bodies with them. 1809 N. Pinkney Trav. France 216 In digging a vault a body was discovered enveloped in a long robe. 1875 Lyell Princ. Geol. (ed. 12) II. iii. xl. 377 They had been packed up in a box, and enveloped in cotton. |
b. To serve as a wrapping or case for. Also
fig.| 1595 Shakes. Hen. V, i. i. 31 Leauing his body as a Paradise T'inuelop and containe Celestiall Spirits. 1738 Glover Leonidas x. (R.), The silken plumes Of sleep envelop his extended limbs. 1797 M. Baillie Morb. Anat. (1807) 357 The cellular membrane, which envelopes the vessels of the spermatic chord. 1830 R. Knox tr. Béclard's Anat. 116 These membranes..were long confounded..with the organs which they envelope. 1834 M{supc}Murtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 235 Their mantle unites under the body, forming a muscular sac which envelopes all the viscera. 1870 H. Macmillan Bible Teach. viii. 152 His body must be enveloped by the earth, as his soul is enveloped by the body. |
2. To wrap, cover closely on all sides with a surrounding medium (
e.g. clouds, darkness, flames, an atmosphere, etc.). Const.
in,
with. Also with the surrounding medium as subject.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xii. 34 Suddenly a grosse fog over⁓spred..And heavens chearefull face enveloped. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. ii. 77 The best, and wholsomst spirits of the night, Inuellop you, good Prouost. 1664 H. More Myst. Iniq. 503 Raies of light and glory envelop His Body. 1675 Cocker Morals 41 Our chearin Sun, our Glory and Delight, Are soon inveloped in shades of Night. 1700 Dryden Fables, Pal. & Arc. 1863 A cloud of smoke envelops either host. 1762 Dunn in Phil. Trans. LII. 471 They are so invelloped in vapours, as to be undiscernible. 1791 Cowper Iliad xvii. 716 Jove with storms Enveloped Ida. 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. I. 58 The azote which is disengaged, envelops the carbon. 1847 Illust. Lond. News 10 July 19/3 Mr. Huntley's property was enveloped in one broad sheet of flame. 1847 L. Hunt Jar Honey ii. (1848) 15 One of these cliffs towers to such a height, that its summit is for ever enveloped in clouds. |
| fig. 1474 Caxton Cheese 109 The thought is enuoluped in obscurete. 1670 Cotton Espernon i. ii. 64 The extreme danger they saw themselves envellop'd in. 1670 Moral State Eng. 137 When we cloud our Reason, and envelope it in mists. 1837 Disraeli Venetia ii. i. (1871) 105 What mystery was this that enveloped that great tie? 1846 Sir W. Hamilton Dissert. in Reid's Wks. 752 The peasant employs all the principles of abstract philosophy, only inveloped, latent, engaged. |
† 3. catachr. a. ‘To line; to cover on the inside’ (J.).
b. Of a body of men: To surround.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. 4 His yron cote, all overgrowne with rust, Was underneath enveloped with gold. 1683 Temple Mem. Wks. 1731 I. 388 The Prince of Orange..was at first envelop'd by his own flying Men. |
Hence
enˈveloped ppl. a. (in senses of the
vb.; in
quot. fig.), enshrouded, darkened.
enˈveloper, one who envelops or wraps up.
enˈveloping vbl. n., the action of the
vb. envelop; also
concr. a wrapping; an enclosing membrane.
| 1607 T. Walkington Opt. Glasse 11 The inveloped and deformed night of ignorance. 1883 Clodd in Knowl. 15 June 353/1 The rain-clouds are imprisoned in dungeons or caverns by Vritra the ‘Enveloper’. 1693 J. Beaumont on Burnet's Th. Earth i. 52 The envelopings also with which the Infant is encompast, being very thin. 1831 R. Knox tr. Cloquet's Anat. 239 The Enveloping Aponeuroses vary much in their thickness. 1879 G. B. Prescott Sp. Telephone 133 Magnetization..impressed upon a soft iron rod by the action of an enveloping helix. 1882 Vines Sach's Bot. 702 Salts..present in solution in the enveloping strata of water. |