endue

English

WOTD – 25 May 2025

Etymology

From both of the following:^[1]

Chiefly sense 1: Late Middle English induen (“to clothe (someone); to assume or take on (an appearance)”),^[2] from Latin induere, the present active infinitive of induō (“to put on (clothes, etc.); to assume (a part)”), from indu- (an archaic variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘in; within’)) + *uō (“to put on (clothes, etc.)”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ew- (“to put clothes or shoes on”)).
Chiefly sense 3 and sense 4: Late Middle English endeuen, enduen (“to endow; to induct or put (someone into office, etc.); (falconry) of a hawk: to pass food from the crop or gorge into the stomach”),^[3] from Old French enduire, induire (modern French enduire), from Latin indūcere, the present active infinitive of indūcō (“to bring or lead in; (by extension) to draw over, cover; (figurative) to bring into, establish, initiate; etc.”), from in- (see above) + dūcō (“to draw, pull; to guide, lead; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to draw, pull; to lead”)).

Sense 2 is from a combination of the above. Doublet of induce.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈdjuː/, /ɛn-/, /-ˈd͡ʒuː/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
(General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈd(j)u/, /ɛn-/
Audio (General American): (file)
Rhymes: -uː
Hyphenation: en‧due

Verb

endue (third-person singular simple present endues, present participle enduing, simple past and past participle endued)

Senses relating to covering or putting on.
1. (transitive, also figurative) Of a person or thing: to take on (a different form); to adopt, to assume.
  - 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 35, page 488:
    Infinite ſhapes of creatures there [in the Garden of Eden] are bred, / And vncouth formes, vvhich none yet euer knevv, / […] / Some fitt for reaſonable ſovvles t’indew, / Some made for beaſts, ſome made for birds to vveare, […]
  - 1626, Ovid, “The Sixth Booke”, in George Sandys, transl., Ovid’s Metamorphosis Englished […], London: […] William Stansby, →OCLC, page 108:
    Pallas [Athena], forth-vvith, an old-vviues ſhape indues; / Her hair all vvhite; her lims, appearing vveake, / A ſtaffe ſupports: vvho thus began to ſpeake.
  - 1830, Alfred Tennyson, “Sonnet V”, in The Complete Poetical Works of Alfred Tennyson, Chicago, Ill.: The Dominion Company, published 1897, →OCLC, page 77:
    Could I outwear my present state of woe / With one brief winter, and indue i' the spring / Hues of fresh youth, and mightily outgrow / That wan dark coil of faded suffering— […]
  - 1987 July (date written), Anthony Burgess, “Dau”, in Any Old Iron, Pocket Books export edition, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, published August 1989, →ISBN, page 81:
    My transport of the afternoon, and the matter of physical contrast, made me endue the tactile apparatus of another man, any man but me, and imagine the beauty of Zip in his caressing arms.
2. (transitive, archaic or literary, also figurative) To put on (a piece of clothing, etc.); to wear; also (followed by with), to clothe (someone) with something.
  - 1700, [John] Dryden, “Ceyx and Alcyone”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 371:
    Indu'd vvith Robes of various Hevv ſhe [Iris] flies, / And flying dravvs an Arch, (a ſegment of the Skies:) / Then leaves her bending Bovv, and from the ſteep / Deſcends to ſearch the ſilent Houſe of Sleep.
  - 1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], “Repentance, and a Reconciliation”, in Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], 2nd edition, volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 178:
    [T]he Baron, with the help of Mr Saunderson, had indued a pair of jack[-]boots of large dimension, and now invited our hero to follow him as he stalked clattering down the ample staircase, […]
  - 1848, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter VII, in Harold, the Last of the Saxon Kings; […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, book IV (The Heathen Altar and the Saxon Church), page 326:
    But before the chiefs and captains rode to their several posts, they assembled around William, whom Fitzosborne had called betimes, and who had not yet endued his heavy mail, that all men might see suspended from his throat certain relics chosen out of those on which Harold had pledged his fatal oath.
  - 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Elf-child and the Minister”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, page 128:
    Governor Bellingham, in a loose gown and easy cap,—such as elderly gentlemen loved to indue themselves with, in their domestic privacy,—walked foremost, and appeared to be showing off his estate, and expatiating on his projected improvements.
  - 1869, R[ichard] D[oddridge] Blackmore, chapter II, in Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor. […], volume I, London: Sampson Low, Son, & Marston, […], →OCLC, page 13:
    […] John Fry's sad-coloured Sunday hat was indued with a plume of marish-weed.
  - 1985 September 1, Anthony Burgess, chapter 3, in The Kingdom of the Wicked, London: Allison & Busby, published 2009, →ISBN, page 266:
    Judaea greeted its monarch. He was to ascend to the immemorial sacring place of millennia of kings, there to be endued with the robe and crown of rule.
3. (transitive, obsolete, rare) To put (something) on top of a thing; to cover, to overlay.
  - 1644 November 27 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 17 November 1644]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC, page 111:
    [The altar in St. Peter's Basilica] of St. Veronica made by Fra[ncesco] Mochi, has over it in the Reliquary, where they shew'd us the miraculous Sudarium indued w^th the picture of o^r Saviour [Jesus]'s face, […]
Senses relating to giving some quality or thing.
2. (transitive, often passive voice, literary) Followed by with: to invest (someone or something) with a certain power, quality, etc.
  - 1605, Francis Bacon, “The First Booke”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for Henrie Tomes, […], →OCLC, folio 14, verso:
    [L]earning endueth mens mindes vvith a true ſence of the frailtie of their perſons, the caſualtie of their fortunes, and the dignitie of their ſoule and vocation; […]
  - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 24:49, signature J3, recto, column 2:
    And behold, I [Jesus] ſend the promiſe of my Father vpon you: but tarie ye in the citie of Hieruſalem, vntill ye be indued with power from on high.
  - 1637, Thomas Cranmer [et al.], compilers, “The Psalmes of David, of the Old Translation, Pointed as They shall be Said or Sung in Churches. [Confitebor tibi. Psal[m] 138:3.]”, in The Book of Common-Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments: […], London: […] Thomas Buck, and Roger Daniel, […], →OCLC, column 2:
    VVhen I called upon thee, thou heardeſt me: and enduedſt my ſoul vvith much ſtrength.
  - 1646, Thomas Browne, “A Further Illustration [of the Last and Common Promoter of False Opinions, the Endeavours of Satan]”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 46:
    That the Sun, Moone, and Stars are living creatures, endued vvith ſoule and life, ſeemes an innocent error, and a harmeleſſe digreſſion from truth; […]
  - 1655, Thomas Fuller, “I. Centurie.”, in The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, book I, page 8:
    Some aſcribe to the ſanctity of this Ioſeph [of Arimathea], the yearly budding of the Havv-thorn near Glaſſenbury, on Chriſtmas day, no leſſe then an annual Miracle. […] Hovvever, there is no neceſſity, that this ſhould be imputed to the Holineſs of Arimathean Ioſeph. For there is (as is credibly ſaid) an Oake in Nevv-Foreſt, nigh Lindhurſt, in Hantſhire, vvhich is indued vvith the ſame quality, putting forth leaves about the ſame time; […]
  - 1658 November 26 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Richard Baxter, “[The Christian Religion. […].] The Profession of the Christian Religion. I. The Articles of Christian Belief.”, in Universal Concord. The First Part. The Sufficient Terms Proposed for the Use of Those that Have Liberty to Use Them: […], London: […] R. W[hite] for Nevil Simmons, […], published 1660, →OCLC, paragraph 2, page 5:
    God made man for himſelf in his ovvn image; vvith Reaſon and freevvill: endued vvith vviſdom and holineſs; […]
    Footnote references omitted.
  - 1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “Canto I”, in Hudibras. The First Part. […], London: […] J. G. for Richard Marriot, […], →OCLC, page 23:
    Thus vvas th' accompliſh'd Squire endu'd / VVith gifts and knovvledge, per'lous ſhrevvd.
  - 1682, Robert Boyle, “A Continuation of New Experiments Physico-Mechanical, Touching the Spring and Weight of the Air, and Their Effects. The Second Part. […]. Experiment VIII.”, in The Works of the Honourable Robert Boyle. […], volume IV, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], published 1744, →OCLC, page 107, column 2:
    [T]he apples ſeemed hardly to be fermented, but vvere endued vvith a moſt pleaſant taſte.
  - 1692, John Milton, chapter II, in [Joseph Washington], transl., A Defence of the People of England, […]: In Answer to Salmasius’s Defence of the King, [London?]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 46:
    […] Kings, though not indued vvith the Supream Povver, are not by Vertue of that Sovereign and Kingly Right of theirs Lords over the people, nor ought to Govern them alone; […]
  - 1709, George Berkeley, “[Section] LXXXVI. The Case of Microscopical Eyes, Consider’d.”, in An Essay towards a New Theory of Vision, Dublin: […] Aaron Rhames, […], for Jeremy [i.e., Jeremiah] Pepyat, […], →OCLC, pages 97–98:
    [W]ere our Eyes turned into the Nature of Microſcopes, […] our Sight vvou'd be endued vvith a far greater Sharpneſs and Penetration than it novv hath.
  - 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter VI, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume I, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 150:
    A being whom I myself had formed, and endued with life, had met me at midnight among the precipices of an inaccessible mountain.
  - 1899, Robert Bridges, “[New Poems.] The Duteous Heart.”, in Poetical Works, volume II, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press for Smith Elder & Co., →OCLC, stanza 5, page 266:
    Of simple men and truest / Faces of girl and boy; / The souls whom thou enduest / With gentle peace and joy.
  - 1938 March, T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot, “Part II”, in Murder in the Cathedral, London: Faber and Faber […], →OCLC, page 49:
    But after dissension / Had ended, in France, and you were endued / With your former privilege, how did you show your gratitude?
3. (transitive, obsolete)
  1. Of a quality, etc.: to be inherent in (something).
    - 1646 (indicated as 1645), John Milton, “Sonnet VII”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], →OCLC, page 49:
      Perhaps my ſemblance might deceive the truth, / That I to manhood am arriv'd ſo near, / And invvard ripenes doth much leſs appear / That ſom more timely-happy ſpirits indu'th.
    - 1655, Thomas Stanley, “[Solon.] Chap[ter] IX. The Attribute of Wise Conferred on Him: His Morall Sentences.”, in The History of Philosophy. […], volume I, London: […] Humphrey Moseley, and Thomas Dring, […], →OCLC, 1st part ([Containing Those on whom the Attribute of Wise was Conferr’d]), page 56:
      Lion vvhom the footſteps of the fox purſue, / VVhoſe ſouls deceit and vanity endue.
  2. To supply (someone) with a thing.
    - c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 15, column 1:
      Some reaſons of this double Coronation / I haue poſſeſt you vvithm, and thinke them ſtrong, / And more, more ſtrong, then leſſer is my feare / I ſhall indue you vvith: […]
    - c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 13, column 1:
      [T]he Tribunes endue you vvith the Peoples Voyce, […]
  3. Synonym of endow (“to invest (a person, group of people, or institution) with property”)
    - 1569, Richard Grafton, “Henrye the Fift”, in A Chronicle at Large and Meere History of the Affayres of Englande […], volume II, London: […] Henry Denham, […], for Richarde Tottle and Humffrey Toye, →OCLC, page 446:
      [H]e [Henry V] would be content to take in mariage the Lady Katheryn [Catherine of Valois] daughter vnto the French king [Charles VI of France], and to endue her with all the Duchye and countryes before reherſed.
    - 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 30:20, signature [C4], verso, column 2:
      And Leah ſaid, God hath endued me with a good dowry: Now will my huſband dwel with me, because I haue borne him ſixe ſonnes: and ſhee called his name Zebulun.
  4. (rare) Synonym of bestow (“to impart (something) gratuitously; to grant”)
(obsolete) Senses relating to directing or leading.
1. (transitive) To raise or rear (someone); to bring up; also, to educate or instruct (someone).
2. (transitive, rare) To bring (something) to a certain condition.
  - c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], page 59:
    [L]et our finger ake, / And it endues our other healthfull members, / Euen to that ſence of paine; […]
(obsolete) Senses relating to taking in.
2. (transitive, falconry) Of a hawk: originally, to pass (food in the crop or gizzard) into the stomach; later, to digest (food).
  - 1521–1522, John Skelton, “Here after Followeth a Litel Boke Called Colyn Cloute, […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd, […], published 1843, →OCLC, page 319, lines 216–217:
    Your gorge not endewed / Without a capon stewed
  - 1530 July 28 (Gregorian calendar), Iohan Palsgraue [i.e., John Palsgrave], “The Table of Verbes”, in Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse⸝ […], [London]: […] [Richard Pynson] fynnysshed by Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, 3rd boke, folio cccvi, recto, column 1; reprinted Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, October 1972, →OCLC:
    I Mute [defecate] as a hauke dothe whan ſhe hath endued her gorge.
  - 1575, George Turberuile [i.e.. George Turberville], “Of Feeding a Hawke”, in The Booke of Faulconrie or Hauking, for the Onely Delight and Plerasure of All Noblemen and Gentlemen: […], London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Christopher Barker, […], →OCLC, page 138:
    Cattes fleſhe is vnholeſome, and harde to be indewed, and breedeth perillous wormes, and ſtoppeth a Hawke in the gorge, and marreth hir winde.
3. (transitive, by extension) Of a person or animal: to digest (food).
  - c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 63, lines 77–78:
    Her mete was very crude, / She had not wel endude; […]
  - 1627 February 7 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar), John Donne, “The Fourth of My Prebend Sermons upon My Five Psalms. Sermon LXVIII. Preached at St. Paul’s, January 28, 1626.”, in Henry Alford, editor, The Works of John Donne, D.D., […], volume III, London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 201:
    All, (not only we) wait upon God; and he gives them their meat, though not our meat, (the word and the sacraments) yet their meat, such as they are able to digest and endue.
  - 1653, Francis Rabelais [i.e., François Rabelais], translated by [Thomas Urquhart, Peter Anthony Motteux], “How the Ringing Island had been Inhabited by the Siticines, who were Become Birds”, in The Works of Francis Rabelais, Doctor in Physick: Containing Five Books of the Lives, Heroick Deeds, and Sayings of Gargantua, and His Sonne Pantagruel. […], London: […] [Thomas Ratcliffe and Edward Mottershead] for Richard Baddeley, […], →OCLC; republished in volume II, London: […] Navarre Society […], [1948], →OCLC, 5th book, page 292:
    The Birds were large, fine, and neat accordingly; looking as like the Men in my Country, as one Pea do's like another; for they eat and drank like Men, muted like Men, endued or digested like Men, farted like Men, but stunk like Devils, […]
4. (transitive, figurative) To take on; to absorb.
  - 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 9, page 545:
    He did her ſeruice devvtifull, and ſevvd / At hand vvith humble pride, and pleaſing guile, / So cloſely yet, that none but ſhe it vevved, / VVho vvell perceiued all, and all indevvd.
5. (intransitive, rare) Of food: to be digested.

Usage notes

Sense 2.1 (“to invest (someone or something) with a certain power, quality, etc.”) has almost the same meaning as endow, but the latter has the sense of giving some power, quality, etc., more permanently.^[1]
Sense 4.1 (“of a hawk: to pass (food in the crop or gizzard) into the stomach; to digest (food)”) is often spelled endew.^[1]

Conjugation

Conjugation of *endue*
	present tense	past tense
infinitive	(to) endue

1st-person singular	endue	endued
2nd-person singular	endue, enduest^†	endued, enduedst^†
3rd-person singular	endues, endueth^†	endued
plural	endue	endued

subjunctive	endue	endued

imperative	endue	—

participles	enduing	endued

^† Archaic or obsolete.

Alternative forms

endew, indew (obsolete, Middle English – 17th c.)
indue (dated)

Derived terms

enduable (obsolete)
enduement (obsolete)
enduer
enduing (adjective, noun)
indution (obsolete)
re-endue
unendued

Translations

of a person or thing: to take on (a different form) — see adopt,‎ assume

to put on (a piece of clothing, etc.) — see wear

to clothe (someone) with something — see clothe

to invest (someone or something) with a certain power, quality, etc.

Bulgarian: надарявам (bg) (nadarjavam)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 賦予 / 赋予 (zh) (fùyǔ)
Finnish: varustaa (fi)
Georgian: აჯილდოებს (aǯildoebs)
Macedonian: please add this translation if you can
Maori: tohi (mi)
Russian: наделя́ть (ru) impf (nadeljátʹ), надели́ть (ru) pf (nadelítʹ), одаря́ть (ru) impf (odarjátʹ) or ода́ривать (ru) impf (odárivatʹ), одари́ть (ru) pf (odarítʹ)
Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 “endue | indue, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2024; “endue, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
^ “induen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
^ “endeuen, v.(1)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

[OED-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 “endue | indue, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2024; “endue, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

[2] “induen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

[3] “endeuen, v.(1)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

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