What does encompass mean?
Word: Encompass
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Encompass means to take in a wide range of things, or to surround an area completely.
Synonyms: include
How do you spell encompass?
Syllables: en - com - pass
Tricky part: Heard quickly, the first syllable passes for in, and incompass is the result. It starts with en.
Watch out for: incompass, encompas, incompas
Memory tip: To encompass a field is to encircle it, and those two verbs begin alike.
Encompass in a sentence
Example 1: Our school project will encompass music, art and local history.
Example 2: Her job has grown to encompass the whole of South India.
Example 3: High walls encompass the old part of the town.
Fun Fact
In older English this was mostly a physical word, used for forming a circle round a place. The wider sense of taking in many ideas or topics came later.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Three of these words are spelt correctly. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word:
1. assemble 2. distribute 3. seperate 4. encompass
a) divide things or move them apart
b) bring people or parts together
c) hand something out to a number of people
d) take in many things within one whole
Show answer
a) divide things or move them apart. Separate has an a after the p, so it is the misspelt word in this list.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word encompass as used in the sentence:
The new science syllabus will encompass space, oceans and the human body.
a) exclude
b) explain
c) praise
d) replace
Show answer
a) exclude. To exclude topics is to keep them out, the reverse of what this syllabus does.
Mingle-Mangle
The jumbled word in the sentence hides a real word. Choose it:
The national park's borders samonscpe three rivers and a chain of green hills.
a) enclosure
b) encompass
c) ensemble
d) encounter
Show answer
b) encompass. The two s's and the a and p point to encompass alone.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The new botanical garden will encompess a butterfly house, a lotus pond and a long walk lined with tall bamboo.
a) encompess
b) botanical
c) bamboo
d) butterfly
Show answer
a) encompess. After the p comes an a, not an e.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which title suggests a book that encompasses a lot?
a) Three Poems About the Rain
b) A Short Note on One Painter
c) A Complete Guide to World Art
d) A Single Day in Old Delhi
Show answer
c) A Complete Guide to World Art
2. If a plan encompasses every class in a school, who is left out?
a) the oldest pupils
b) the youngest pupils
c) the newest pupils
d) nobody at all
Show answer
d) nobody at all
