encounter

verb

/ɪnˈkaʊntə/UK/ɪnˈkaʊntɚ/US

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”).

derived from in — “in”
derived from incontrā — “in front of”
derived from encontrer — “to confront”
derived from encountrer
inherited from encountren

Definitions

1
To meet (someone) or find (something), especially unexpectedly.
- 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.
To confront (someone or something) face to face.
3
To meet one another.
- […] yet when the brother and the sister had encountered, according to the set appointment, none of these impassionedments had been repeated.
›+ 8 more definitionsshow fewer
1. 4
  To engage in conflict, as with an enemy.
  - Three armies encountered at Waterloo.
  - Techelles, and the reſt prepare your ſwordes: I meane to incounter with that Baiazeth.
  - I will encounter with Andronicus.
2. To kill or execute someone extrajudicially.
3. 6
  A meeting, especially one that is unplanned or unexpected.
  - Their encounter was a matter of chance.
  - That was Selwyn's first encounter with the Ruthvens. A short time afterward at the opera Gerald dragged him into a parterre to say something amiable to one of the amiable débutante Craig girls—and Selwyn found himself again facing Alixe.
  - As they have planned the encounters, they mostly have control over the time limits.
4. A hostile, often violent meeting
  A hostile, often violent meeting; a confrontation, skirmish, or clash, as between combatants.
5. 8
  A match between two opposing sides.
  - Andre Santos equalised and the outstanding Theo Walcott put Arsenal ahead for the first time before Juan Mata's spectacular strike set up the finale for an enthralling encounter.
6. 9
  A sexual encounter
  A sexual encounter; sexual activity, especially unplanned or unexpected, between two people who have not already established a sexual relationship with each other. In many cases, it does not lead to a relationship, and thus is utterly transient. A sexual encounter can be consensual or non-consensual; in the latter case, it is known as sexual assault. A consensual sexual encounter that happens only once is commonly known as a one-night stand.
  - Though Mr. Cosby described the sexual encounter in 2004 as consensual, Ms. Constand said she was too intoxicated to physically or verbally resist.
7. The period of a space mission during which it carries out its data-gathering objectives.
8. 11
  An extrajudicial killing or execution.
  - Telangana Labour and Employment Minister Malla Reddy on Tuesday said that the guilty person in the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in Hyderabad "will be nabbed and will be killed in an encounter".

The neighborhood

Derived

encounterable, encounterer, misencounter, nonencounter, reencounter, re-encounter, unencountered, close encounter, encounter group, marriage encounter, random encounter

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at encounter. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

A definitional loop anchored at encounter. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

9 hops · closes at encounter

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA