Author Topic: enamor/enamour/enamored/enamoured  (Read 823 times)

TRex

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enamor/enamour/enamored/enamoured
« on: January 25, 2021, 03:41:52 AM »
Is there a reason enamor was a rare word whilst enamored was common? I would expect them to be the same along with enamour and enamoured.

Jacki

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Re: enamor/enamour/enamored/enamoured
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2021, 08:28:10 AM »
Yes I too played enamor and was surprised it was rare. I suppose it's harder to use in a sentence.
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mkenuk

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Re: enamor/enamour/enamored/enamoured
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2021, 08:35:57 AM »
Almost always used in the passive ('be enamo(u)red of')

I'd be struggling to invent a meaningful sentence using the verb in the active voice.

Morbius

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Re: enamor/enamour/enamored/enamoured
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2021, 09:48:38 AM »
wordsinasentence.com gives the following examples:

My daughter hopes her makeover will enamor feelings from her secret crush. 

When Amber lost her temper, she did not enamor herself to the police officer. 

The dancer will use her skillful moves to try and enamor the judging panel. 

Because the pageant contestant did not enamor the judges with her performance, she knows she will not win the crown. 

My sister’s delicious cooking never fails to enamor her loving husband. 

mkenuk

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Re: enamor/enamour/enamored/enamoured
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2021, 11:48:18 AM »
Hmmmm....

I'm not sure about some of these.

In the first example she's hoping to arouse feelings, not to 'enamor' them. It's the boy she is hoping to please /enamor, not the feelings

In examples 3,4,5 I rather think it would be easier and more natural to use 'please'.

The second one seems ok. Used reflexively - 'enamor oneself to' - it seems to work.

(From a retired schoolteacher, who just can't leave such questions alone!!)

 

Jacki

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Re: enamor/enamour/enamored/enamoured
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2021, 11:51:42 AM »
This is why I love Chi!!
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Alan W

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Re: enamor/enamour/enamored/enamoured
« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2021, 02:29:45 PM »
Many dictionaries have a separate entry for enamo(u)red, identified as an adjective. The OED is one dictionary that does this but, for some reason, the online Oxford has only an entry for enamor (or enamour in the UK English dictionary). Even so, the online Oxford provides a definition only for be enamo(u)red of/with/by: "Be filled with a feeling of love for", or "Have a liking or admiration for".

The dictionaries that have entries for both enamo(u)red, as an adjective, and enamo(u)r, as a verb, will note that the verb is usually used in the passive. Perhaps the reason it's so hard to come up with a sensible sounding sentence that uses enamo(u)r is the problem of identifying the subject of such a sentence. For example, if I am enamoured of roast vegetables, who or what is doing the enamouring?

An example using enamor that seems to work appeared in a November 2020 article "The Most Influential Style Icons In Music History" on the UPROXX website:

Quote
The underground popularity of N.W.A. helped enamor a certain kind of teenager with the look of California street gangs...

Here we have three entities interacting: the popularity of hip hop group N.W.A., a certain kind of teenager, and the look of California street gangs. The first enamors the second with the third.

Even if no dictionaries listed enamo(u)red as an adjective, and it was deemed only to exist as the past participle of enamo(u)r, I would still feel it was justified to reserve common status for enamo(u)red and class other forms of the verb as rare. We don't always class every inflection of a verb in the same way. Back in November I changed mooting to rare, while leaving moot and mooted as common. But in this case there's authority for treating enamo(u)red as a word in its own right, so I have even less hesitation in leaving enamo(u)r as a rare word (and enamo(u)ring also).
Alan Walker
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Jacki

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Re: enamor/enamour/enamored/enamoured
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2021, 07:45:46 PM »
Right so enamor and enamour are still rare and enamoured and enamored are both common?
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Alan W

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Re: enamor/enamour/enamored/enamoured
« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2021, 09:18:15 PM »
Exactly.
Alan Walker
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