DictionaryAI

enrol

verb
Sayin-ROHLUK/ɪnˈɹəʊl//ɪnˈɹəʉl/USen-ROHL/ɛnˈɹoʊl/

Formsenrols, enrolling, enrolled

US spellingenroll

6 meanings of enrol

Practice

  1. 1
    join a courseverbintransitivereflexive
    To put your name down officially as a student on a course or at a school, college or university, or as a member of or participant in a scheme or organisation.

    She enrolled on an evening course in Italian at the local college.

    Students who enrol before the end of August get a discount on the pottery classes.

    UsageUsually enrol on a course, at a college and for a class. One l in enrol and enrols, but enrolled, enrolling.

    Similarregister

    Oppositewithdraw

  2. 2
    verbtransitive
    To sign someone up for something, or to make them a member of a group or organisation.

    The club aims to enrol fifty new members before the season starts.

    Employers must enrol eligible staff in a workplace pension scheme.

    UsageEnrol someone in a scheme, club or school, or on a course.

    Similarrecruit, enlist, register, admit

  3. 3
    record officiallyverbtransitive
    To record a name or other entry formally in an official register, roll or list.

    The town clerk enrolled the name of each new freeman on the borough roll.

    Officials were required to enrol the details of every land sale in the court records.

    Similarregister, record, enter

    Note

    This is the meaning the word was built from: en- plus roll, putting a name onto a roll, an official written list. The joining senses, such as signing up for a course, describe the same act from the person's side. The object here is usually the name or the record rather than the person, though older writing lets people enrol themselves too, as when Prescott writes that all the citizens capable of bearing arms "enrolled themselves".

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Enrol can be analysed as en- plus roll, referring to entry in a register. en.wiktionary.org
    • Prescott wrote that all the citizens capable of bearing arms enrolled themselves. gutenberg.org

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    as a voterverbintransitivereflexive
    To register as a voter so that you can take part in elections.

    Make sure you enrol before the electoral roll closes next Friday.

    After moving house, she had to enrol again at her new address before she could vote.

    UsageWhere British speakers usually say register to vote, people there say enrol to vote, or simply enrol.

    Similarregister

    Note

    The list itself is the electoral roll, which keeps the word close to its first meaning: a name written onto a roll.

  2. 5
    verbobsoletetransitive
    To wrap something up or envelop it completely.
    enroll thy memorable name In th’ heart of every honourable dame
    1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene
    Note

    An old poetic use built on the picture inside the word: en- plus roll, something rolled up within something else. In Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great, bullets fly "enrolde in flames" and smoke, wrapped in fire as they go. It is obsolete now and turns up mostly in older verse, where it is easy to misread as the register meaning.

    Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • The enveloping sense is an old use attested in poetry. en.wiktionary.org
    • The word can be analysed as en- + roll; the wrapping image is consistent with its enveloping sense. en.wiktionary.org
    • Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great contains the quoted phrase describing bullets enveloped in flames and smoky mists. en.wiktionary.org
    • The quotation reads 'Enrolde in flames', followed by a reference to fiery smouldering mists. en.wiktionary.org
  3. 6
    verb
    Of an animal, to curl its body up into a ball.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of enrol apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Middle English had it as enrollen, borrowed from the Anglo-Norman verb enroller. You can also see it as the prefix en- joined to roll.