English Reference
noun · verb

enclave

n. · v.
US /ˈɑnˌkɫeɪv/ UK /ˈɛnkleɪv/ en·clave UK spelling enclaves, enclaving

  1. 01 C1 Advanced Formal

    n.a piece of land or a country that is entirely surrounded by the territory of another country.

    n.a portion of territory within or surrounded by a larger territory whose inhabitants are culturally or politically distinct.

    Simple

    The small mountain village is a political enclave surrounded by a different nation.

    In context

    The treaty established the coastal town as a sovereign enclave, ensuring its administrative independence despite being entirely encircled by the neighbouring state.

    exclaveterritory
  2. 02 C2 Proficiency Technical Computing

    n.a protected area in a computer's memory that other programs cannot see or change.

    n.a secure, isolated portion of an application's address space that protects sensitive data from unauthorized access by other processes.

    Simple

    The software stores your passwords in a secure enclave to keep them safe from hackers.

    In context

    The processor architecture uses hardware-based enclaves to ensure that even if the operating system is compromised, the encryption keys remain inaccessible.

  3. 03 C2 Proficiency FormalTechnical

    v.to make a piece of land or a group entirely surrounded by something else.

    v.to enclose a territory or group within a foreign or distinct environment.

    Simple

    The new borders will enclave the small town within the neighboring province.

    In context

    The geopolitical shifts following the war served to enclave several ethnic minorities, creating complex administrative challenges for the new government.

Morocco has added barbed wire and more police near Spain’s Ceuta enclave after online calls for another mass crossing.

Al Jazeera· 15 Aug 2026

This weekend, Mohammed wants to travel from Morocco to the neighbouring Spanish enclave of Ceuta, on the northern tip of Africa.

BBC News· 14 Aug 2026

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.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Latin clavis
Level C1 · Advanced
Frequency Occasional
Updated