envowel

envowel

English

Alternative forms

• emvowel

Etymology

Blend of embowel +‎ vowel with assimilation the m of embowel to the following v of vowel. Compare to disenvowel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛnˈvaʊəl/, /ɛnˈvaʊl/
• Rhymes: -aʊəl, -aʊl

Verb

envowel (third-person singular simple present envowels, present participle envowelling or envoweling, simple past and past participle envowelled or envoweled)

1. (dated, transitive, humorous, rare) to replace a portion of a person's name with a dash in printing, in order to avoid libel.
   • 1747-1748, Henry Fielding, the Jacobite's Journal‎:

     In this dress I intend to abuse the *** and the ***; I intend to lash not only the m―stry, but every man who hath any p―ce or p―ns―n from the g―vernm―t, or who is entrusted with any degree of power or trust under it, let his r―nk be ever so high, his f―rt―ne never so great, or his ch―r―cter never good. For this purpose I have provided myself with a quantity of Italian letter, and asterisks of all sorts. And as for all the words which I embowel, or rather envowel, I will never so mangle them but they shall be as well-known as if they retained every vowel in them. This I promise myself, that when I have any meaning they shall understand it.