to confine or enclose, especially to shut up in or as if in a cage or mew (a confined space for hawks).
From en- + mew (from Old French mue, from Latin mutare meaning 'to change,' since hawks 'mewed' or changed their feathers during molting). Originally referred to confining hawks during molting season.
The word 'enmew' comes from falconry, where hawks were locked in special rooms called 'mews' during their molting period—this is why London's fancy 'Mews' neighborhoods were named, originally being where royal hawks were kept.
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