enclave

UK: /ˈɛŋkleɪv/ US: /ˈɛnkleɪv, ˈɑn-/ ,(en′klāv, än′-)

Inflections of 'enclave' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

enclaves

v 3rd person singular

enclaving

v pres p

enclaved

v past

enclaved

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

en•clave /ˈɛnkleɪv, ˈɑn-/   n. [countable]

1. a country or part of a country surrounded by foreign territory.
2. any small, distinct area or group enclosed or isolated within a larger one:
   His neighborhood was an enclave of Italian families and their businesses.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

en•clave  (en′klāv, än′-), n., v., -claved, -clav•ing. 
n. 

1. a country, or esp., an outlying portion of a country, entirely or mostly surrounded by the territory of another country.
2. any small, distinct area or group enclosed or isolated within a larger one:
   a Chinese-speaking enclave in London.

v.t. 

3. to isolate or enclose (esp. territory) within a foreign or uncongenial environment;
   make an enclave of:
   The desert enclaved the little settlement.

• Vulgar Latin *inclāvāre to lock in, equivalent. to Latin in- in-² + clāv(is) key + -āre infinitive suffix
• French, Middle French, noun, nominal derivative of enclaver
• 1865–70

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

enclave / ˈɛnkleɪv/ noun

1. a part of a country entirely surrounded by foreign territory: viewed from the position of the surrounding territories
   Compare exclave

Etymology: 19th Century: from French, from Old French enclaver to enclose, from Vulgar Latin inclāvāre (unattested) to lock up, from Latin in-² + clavis key