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 At least one Su-27—presumably flying from Kaliningrad, Russia’s isolated exclave on the Baltic Sea—intercepted the B-1s over the water and flew nearby for a while. — David Axe, Forbes, "American Bombers Blaze Toward Russia In Provocative Show Of Force," 4 Mar. 2021 Over the years, the fate of the derelict House of Soviets became entwined with competing ideas about the future of Kaliningrad itself, a Russian exclave wedged between Poland and Lithuania. — New York Times, "The Haunted House of Soviets Gets a New Life," 16 Feb. 2021 The nub of the conflict is the Armenian-populated exclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, a Soviet-era autonomous region inside Azerbaijan that declared independence in 1988 as the USSR began to crumble. — Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, "On Russia's flank, a small war heralds big changes," 30 Nov. 2020 The incident occurred near the border with the Azerbaijan exclave of Nakhchivan. — Fox News, "Russian military helicopter shot down in Armenia, 2 killed," 10 Nov. 2020 Marius Laurinavicius, a Russia security expert at the Vilnius Institute of Political Analysis, told the Washington Examiner that Russia would benefit from a corridor linking its exclave in Kaliningrad to the rest of Russia. — Abraham Mahshie, Washington Examiner, "Russia could ‘absorb’ Belarus and threaten NATO," 24 Sep. 2020 Russia has also bolstered its military might in the region, particularly in the exclave of Kaliningrad. — James Marson, WSJ, "Russia’s Embrace of Lukashenko Puts the West on Alert," 28 Sep. 2020 Karoblis said the Russian exclave has anti-ship missiles and land-to-land missiles capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons. — Abraham Mahshie, Washington Examiner, "NATO aerial exercises test 'vulnerable' Baltic defense against Russian air assault," 24 Sep. 2020 In March, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Russia had blocked the United States from flying reconnaissance missions over the exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea and the southern border with Georgia. — Author: John Hudson, Paul Sonne, Anchorage Daily News, "Trump administration to withdraw from Open Skies treaty in further erosion of arms-control pacts with Russia," 21 May 2020

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.