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I always thought that "encapture" is a word meaning "to capture". However, spellchecking softwares flag this term and a quick Google search shows that this term is not listed in any dictionary except Wiktionary: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/encapture

The only instance that I found of its usage in a credible text is a poem by Kavanagh called Canal Bank Walks:

Leafy-with-love banks and the green waters of the canal
Pouring redemption for me, that I do
The will of God, wallow in the habitual, the banal,
Grow with nature again as before I grew.
The bright stick trapped, the breeze adding a third
Party to the couple kissing on an old seat,
And a bird gathering materials for the nest for the Word
Eloquently new and abandoned to its delirious beat.
O unworn world enrapture me, encapture me in a web
Of fabulous grass and eternal voices by a beech,
Feed the gaping need of my senses, give me ad lib
To pray unselfconsciously with overflowing speech
For this soul needs to be honoured with a new dress woven
From green and blue things and arguments that cannot be proven

So is it correct to use this term? By "correct" I mean whether I can use it in normal sentences. The reason I cited this poem is because this is the only example I found where "encapture" has been used in a credible text. But I've also seen it being used numerous times in verbal casual communications. I'm a non-native speaker, and have heard other people use it so I always assumed it's a legit word.

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  • By "correct" I mean whether I can use it in normal sentences. The reason I cited this poem is because this is the only example I found where "encapture" has been used in a text. Im a non-native speaker, and have heard other people use it so I always assumed it's a legit word.
    – wdihtwtd26
    Commented Jun 11, 2017 at 9:11
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    It's in YourDictionary, but it isn't in the Oxford English Dictionary. The poet used it because it fit with enrapture...enrapture me, encapture me. As to whether you should use it in normal conversation -- my advice is not to use it in a job interview, but go ahead with someone you know well and want to know better. You can always blame it on the poem; if so, best to memorize some lines from the poem.
    – ab2
    Commented Jun 11, 2017 at 14:20
  • It sounds just as acceptable as 'Eloquently new and abandoned to its delirious beat. O unworn world enrapture me' ie you'd probably get thrown out of a pub (or everyone else would leave). But the Poets Society would love it.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jun 11, 2017 at 14:51
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    What do you even mean by "encapture is a word meaning to capture". If anything, capture is a word meaning to capture. Are you asking whether encapture is a synonym for capture?
    – Drew
    Commented Jun 11, 2017 at 18:00
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    If you do a search on Google Books (not ordinary Google) you'll find several more uses of encapture. You'll also come across an entry for the prefix en in The Oxford Reference Guide to English Morphology. It's a viable prefix than can be attached to capture, though it's not in the OED and most uses are either poetic or geek-talk. So yes it's a word. But outside of the aforementioned contexts it's not used by native speakers.
    – Arm the good guys in America
    Commented Jun 11, 2017 at 23:38

3 Answers 3

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It would seem to be a mutation of the word 'Encapsulate'.

To express the essential features of (someone or something) succinctly. "the conclusion is encapsulated in one sentence" synonyms: summarize, sum up, give the gist of, put in a nutshell; capture, express "their conclusions are encapsulated in one sentence"

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As was said in the comments, encapture is not in the Oxford English Dictionary:

http://en.oxforddictionaries.com/search?filter=dictionary&query=encapture

So I would say at least in that context that it is not a word.

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I heard a woman use enrapture the other day referring to a museum piece but I have never heard of encapture so I do not think it used in modern day English. However, (the great word of doubt) it might have been used in old English but it is really not relevant for today.

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