1 July 2013

ensconce

[en-SKONS]

verb (used with object), esconced, ensconcing.

1. To settle firmly and comfortably.
2. To hide securely.

ETYMOLOGY:
From en- (in) + sconce (small fortification), from Dutch schans (entrenchment). Earliest documented use: 1589.

USAGE:
‘Vladimir Putin is once more ensconced behind the Kremlin’s walls’
Not Such a Strongman; The Economist (London, UK); Jun 9, 2012.

Today’s aphorism

Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination
and life to everything.

– Plato

On this day

1 July 1961 – birth of Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales, in a car crash in Paris. Died 31 August 1997.