encercler

Encercler is a French verb meaning to encircle, surround, or enclose something by forming a circle around it. It can be used literally, as when troops or walls encircle a town, and figuratively, to describe surrounding or constraining something through rules, influence, or conditions. The word comes from cercle, circle, with the prefix en- indicating around or surrounding.

In military and security contexts, encercler refers to surrounding an area or an opponent to prevent escape or relief. For example: L'armée a encerclé la ville. (The army encircled the city.) La force a encerclé les ennemis dans une poche. (The forces encircled the enemies in a pocket.)

In civilian usage, encercler can describe enclosing an object within a circular boundary or motif, and it is also used in urban planning to describe a city encircled by a belt of roads or fortifications. For instance, une ville encerclée par une ceinture périphérique is a city ringed by a peripheral belt. In design or map contexts, one might speak of encercler un point d’un cercle pour en indiquer la délimitation.

Conjugation and forms: encercler is a regular -er verb. Present tense forms include j’encercle, tu encercles, il/elle encercle, nous encerclons, vous encerclez, ils/elles encerclent. The past participle is encerclé, used with avoir in compound tenses (j’ai encerclé). Etymologically related terms include cercle (circle) and cercler, with nuanced uses such as entourer (to surround in a broader sense) and enfermer (to enclose).

See also: cercle, encerclement, cerclage.