Did you know?

You probably won't be surprised to learn that the key to "exclave" is found in "enclave." "Enclave" itself ultimately derives from the Latin word for "key," which is "clavis." It was adopted in the mid-19th century from Middle French enclaver ("to enclose"), which in turn derives (through Vulgar Latin) from in- and clavis. "Exclave" was formed about twenty years later by combining the prefix ex- and the "-clave" of "enclave." Other "clavis" descendants in English include "autoclave," "clavicle," "conclave," and "clavichord" ("an early keyboard instrument in use before the piano").

Examples of exclave in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The town where it is based, Campione d’Italia, is an exclave (opposite of ‘enclave’) of Italy, meaning a patch of Italian territory inside Switzerland. — Irene Dominioni, Forbes, 18 July 2022 The 43-mile Suwalki Gap is wedged between Russia’s exclave of Kaliningrad and Belarus, a Russia ally. — Katie Wadington, USA TODAY, 7 July 2022 Moscow has found itself at the center of yet another Eastern European conflict after Lithuania banned certain goods from traveling by rail through its territory to reach Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave nestled between Poland and the Baltics. — Brigid Kennedy, The Week, 25 June 2022 Killnet said its attacks were in retaliation regarding Lithuania's recent banning of shipments sanctioned by the European Union to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. — Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 27 June 2022 The Russian authorities threatened Lithuania with retaliation if the Baltic country did not swiftly reverse its ban on the transportation of some goods to Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave between Lithuania and Poland. — New York Times, 20 June 2022 Due to European Union sanctions on Moscow, the Baltic country earlier this month banned rail traffic from crossing its territory from Russia to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. — Arkansas Online, 21 June 2022 The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, located hundreds of miles west of the rest of the country, is the latest flash point between Moscow and the rest of Europe as the fallout from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war reverberates beyond Ukraine. — Amy Cheng, Washington Post, 21 June 2022 For example, the remaining BTGs in Kaliningrad, Russia’s geographically-separate exclave on the Baltic Sea. — David Axe, Forbes, 28 May 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'exclave.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.