encounter
/ɪnˈkaʊntɚ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.26 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A meeting, especially one that is unplanned or unexpected.
noun
A hostile, often violent meeting; a confrontation, skirmish, or clash, as between combatants.
Example Sentences
- "It fits Ioues ſonne / VVraſtle vvith Lyons, and to tugge vvith Beares, / Grapple vvith Dragons, and incounter VVhales."
- "H' incounters Talgol, routs the Bear, / And takes the Fidler Prisoner; / Conveys him to enchanted Castle, / There shuts him fast in wooden Bastile."
- "It ran derailed for about 500 yards before encountering a set of points, which caused it to veer into the path of an Immingham-Ferrybridge coal train, powered by Freightliner 66521 (one of a class of locomotive well-known for being well-built enough to destroy anything that got in its way)."
- "[…] yet when the brother and the sister had encountered, according to the set appointment, none of these impassionedments had been repeated."
- "Three armies encountered at Waterloo."
- "Techelles, and the reſt prepare your ſwordes: I meane to incounter with that Baiazeth."
Etymology
From Middle English encountren, from Anglo-Norman encountrer, Old French encontrer (“to confront”), from encontre (“against, counter to”), from Late Latin incontrā (“in front of”) itself from Latin in (“in”) + contrā (“against”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: encountren, encountrer, encontrer, incontrā, in
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɪnˈkaʊntɚ/
- British English: /ɪnˈkaʊntə/