Engrace

/ɪnˈɡreɪs/ verb

Definition

to endow with grace, elegance, or divine favor; to make graceful or beautiful.

Etymology

From en- (to cause to be) plus grace (from Latin gratia, meaning favor or elegance). This poetic verb follows the same pattern as enliven or enrich, using the prefix to create a verb from a noun.

Kelly Says

This archaic poetic verb perfectly illustrates how medieval and Renaissance writers could create new words on the fly—if you wanted to say something was made beautiful by grace, you could simply 'engrace' it, and if readers recognized the pattern, they understood immediately.

Related Words

Explore More Words

Get the Word Orb API

Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.