To shut up or confine an animal (especially a dog) in a kennel; to pen up.
From the prefix 'en-' (meaning 'to put into') plus 'kennel,' which comes from Old French 'chenil' (dogs' quarters), derived from Latin 'canis' (dog). The word literally means 'to put into a kennel.'
This archaic verb reveals how Old English speakers formed new words systematically by combining 'en-' with nouns—they could 'enkennel' dogs the same way they could 'encase' objects or 'enchant' people. This productive word-building pattern is why English speakers can often understand words they've never encountered before!
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