What does immure mean?
Immure means to imprison, confine, or enclose someone or something in a place that surrounds or restricts it. The word has a distinctly literary and historical tone, appearing in accounts of castles, monasteries, dungeons, tombs, and secluded places. Its strongest sense is to shut someone in, whether physically behind walls or symbolically within an isolated or enclosed space. For example, a person may be described as immured in a prison cell, while a treasure can be immured in a vault. The verb can also convey the condition of being trapped or cut off from ordinary life. Although it is related in meaning to imprison and confine, immure often suggests a complete and sometimes severe enclosure, with a slight sense of finality or confinement. It is less usual in casual conversation than those more neutral alternatives, but it is useful in formal and literary writing for describing physical imprisonment, entombment, or deliberate seclusion.
verbTo imprison or confine someone, especially in a place that completely surrounds or restricts them. It can also refer to enclosing a person or thing within walls or another enclosing structure.
- To imprison or confine someone.
- To enclose or entomb someone or something within walls or a surrounding structure.
"The prisoner was immured in a cell beneath the castle."
"The king immured his brother in a remote fortress."
"The valuables were immured in a vault beneath the chapel."
Immurure literally means to put someone behind a wall: the word comes from a Latin root for a defensive fortification.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does immure come from?
Immure comes from the Latin verb immurare, meaning to put behind a wall or fortify with walls. The word is built from in- and murus, Latin for wall, and reflects an original sense of enclosing or protecting with masonry. Related English words such as mural, muralist, and muralism likewise derive from the Latin root murus.
Related word forms
How immure is actually used
Immure is literary and somewhat formal. It is especially associated with imprisonment, burial, or seclusion, and is less common in ordinary everyday speech than imprison or confine.
Easily confused with immure
Immure means to imprison or confine; it should not be confused with immure-sounding words such as immuable, which means unable to be changed.