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Glite Dictionary
🌾 Before land division 🏞️ Open common land
preenclosure

preenclosure

9.9
The time before land was divided and made private
  • noun
  • UK
: período anterior al cercamiento
  • During the preenclosure period, villagers shared the open fields for grazing their livestock.

Examples

  • No name in the oldest section of Arnold or the other sites indicates its agricultural heritage; however, Furlong Street, parallel to High and Church, indicates preenclosure field divisions, which were in furlongs.

    Academic text (1990)

  • The survival is best exemplified by Sandfield Road, which takes its name from Sand Field, one of the preenclosure areas.

    Academic text (1990)

  • The preenclosure names are known.

    Academic text (1990)

  • The preenclosure landscape was characterized by communal land used for farming and pasture.

  • Historians often study the social dynamics of communities during the preenclosure era to understand land usage.

Surface Forms

preenclosure singular
preenclosures plural

Morphology

preenclosure = enclosure (transparent) = pre + en + close + ure

The prefix 'pre-' straightforwardly yields the meaning 'the period or state before enclosure' from the noun 'enclosure'.

Etymology

Preenclosure comes from pre- ('before') and enclosure ('to close or fence off'). It calls to mind the time when countryside was open and shared, so preenclosure means the period or condition before land was fenced or made private.