To make something hard, strong, or steel-like in quality or appearance.
From the prefix 'en-' (to cause to be) combined with 'steel', the metal. The word emerged in Middle English as writers sought vivid ways to describe hardening or strengthening, following the pattern of other 'en-' verbs like 'enliven' or 'enrich'.
This word captures the poetic Old English obsession with turning nouns into action verbs—if steel is strong, then to ensteel something is to give it that steely quality. Shakespeare and medieval writers loved this pattern, creating verbs from nearly any noun to show transformation.
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