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Like mural, immure comes from murus, a Latin noun that means "wall." Immurare, a Medieval Latin verb, was formed from murus and the prefix in- (meaning "in" or "within"). Immure, which first appeared in English in the late 16th century, literally means "to wall in" or "to enclose with a wall," but it has extended meanings as well. In addition to senses meaning "to imprison" and "to entomb," the word sometimes has broader applications, essentially meaning "to shut in" or "to confine." One might remark, for example, that a very studious acquaintance spends most of her time "immured in the library" or that a withdrawn teenager "immures himself in his bedroom every night."
Examples of immure in a Sentence
Rachel Cusk, New York Times, 2 May 2023
Forty-six people perished, many immured by the unrelenting gridiron just below the water’s surface.
—John O'Connor, Chicago Tribune, 30 Apr. 2023
Forty-six people perished, many immured by the unrelenting gridiron just below the water's surface.
—John O'Connor, BostonGlobe.com, 30 Apr. 2023
The last slave had been immured within its walls, and St. Michael’s curfew was to be sweetest music thenceforth and forever.
—Jonathan W. White, Smithsonian, 27 Feb. 2018
Cite this Entry
“Immure.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/immure. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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immure
verb
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