Encoop

/ɪnˈkuːp/ verb

Definition

To confine or shut up in a coop; to imprison or restrict within narrow bounds.

Etymology

From en- (causative) + coop (from Old French coupe, a barrel/enclosure, from Latin cupa). Originally meant literally 'to put in a coop,' later metaphorically 'to confine.'

Kelly Says

Medieval prisons were sometimes called 'coops' for people, which is darkly fitting—'encooped' meant you were treated like a chicken. This word reminds us that animal metaphors for imprisonment reveal how societies thought of confined people.

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