ENCEINTE (

See also:

• LAT

Lat. in, within, cinctus, girdled; to be distinguished from the word meaning " pregnant," from in, not, and cinctus, i.e. with

See also:

• GIRDLE (O. Eng. gyrdel, from gyrdan, to gird; cf. Ger. Gurtel, Dutch gordel, from giirten and gorden; "gird" and its doublet " girth " together with the other Teutonic cognates have been referred by some to the root ghar—to seize, enclose, seen in Gr. )(s

girdle loosened)  , a French term used technically in fortification for the inner ring of fortifications surrounding a town . Strictly the term was applied to the continuous line of bastions and curtains forming the " body of the place," this last expression being often used as synonymous with enceinte . The outworks, however, close to the enceinte were not considered as forming part of it . In modern fortification the enceinte is usually simply the innermost continuous line of fortifications . In architecture generally an enceinte is the close or precinct of a cathedral, abbey, castle, &c .