"form a circle round, enclose or surround circularly," c. 1400, from en- (1) "make, put in" + circle (n.). Related: Encircled; encircling.

"state of being encircled; act of encircling," 1809, from encircle + -ment.

late 14c. (implied in environing), "to surround, encircle, encompass," from Old French environer "to surround, enclose, encircle," from environ "round about," from en- "in" (see en- (1)) + viron "a circle, circuit," also used as an adverb, from virer "to turn" (see veer). Related: Environed.

1859, American English, "saddle-girth," from Spanish cincha "girdle," from Latin cingulum "a girdle, a swordbelt," from cingere "to surround, encircle," from PIE root *kenk- (1) "to gird, encircle" (source also of Sanskrit kankate "binds," kanci "girdle;" Lithuanian  kinkau, kinkyti "to harness horses"). Replaced earlier surcingle. Sense of "an easy thing" is 1895 (in lead-pipe cinch), via notion of "a firm or sure hold" (1888).

"form a circle about, encircle," 1550s, from en- (1) "make, put in" + compass (n.). Related: Encompassed; encompasses; encompassing.

"encircle with a girdle," 1580s, from girdle (n.). Meaning "to cut off a belt of bark around a trunk to kill a tree" is from 1660s, especially in North America. Related: Girdled; girdling.

late 14c., "ensnare (an animal), catch in a trap; encircle; capture," from trap (n.) or from Old English betræppan. Figurative use is slightly earlier (late 14c.). Related: Trapped; trapping.

1520s, "to embrace;" 1570s, "to weave together;" from Late Latin complectus, past participle of complectere "to embrace, encircle," from Latin com "with" (see com-) + plectere "to plait," from suffixed form of PIE root *plek- "to plait." Related: Complected; complecting.

"belt, girdle, or band worn round the body," 1580s, from Latin cinctura "a girdle," from cinctus, past participle of cingere "to surround, encircle" (see cinch (n.)). Especially the girdle used to confine a clergyman's cassock. The verb is recorded from 1757 (implied in cinctured).

late 14c., "to encompass; confine, restrain, mark out bounds or limits for," from Latin circumscribere "to make a circle around, encircle, draw a line around; limit, restrain, confine, set the boundaries of," from circum "around, round about" (see circum-) + scribere "to write" (from PIE root *skribh- "to cut"). Related: Circumscribed; circumscribing.