enclave

Definition

A political, cultural or social entity or part thereof that is completely surrounded by another.

Etymology

Borrowed from French enclave, from Middle French enclave (“enclave”), deverbal of enclaver (“to inclose”), from Old French enclaver (“to inclose, lock in”), from Vulgar Latin *inclāvāre (“to lock in”), from in + Latin clavis (“key”) or clavus (“nail, bolt”). Compare inlock.

Example Sentences

• "The Republic of San Marino is an enclave of Italy."
• "The streets around Union Square form a Protestant enclave within an otherwise Catholic neighbourhood."
• "They were learning to do what in all my years in the music business I never saw — which was women running a record company, women producing concerts, women learning to be engineers, women moving into this absolutely all-male enclave. You never saw a woman in any of those positions, in any of that work except as secretaries and "go-fers"."

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