If from the sb., possibly suggested by Du. inlijsten to inscribe on a list or register. So far as our quots. show, the vb. list (now usually written ’list as if aphetic) occurs considerably earlier than enlist, and may possibly be its source. The form inlist, now wholly disused, was in 18th c. much the more frequent.]
1. trans. To enrol on the ‘list’ of a military body; to engage as a soldier.
1698–9. E. Ludlow, Mem., III. 99. That the like number was enlisted [ed. 1751 inlisted] under my command in the western parts of England.
1755. Johnson, List, to enlist [the word is not under En- or In-].
1762. Gentl. Mag., 1. The Dutch … were very busy inlisting men.
1776. Gibbon, Decl. & F., I. xiii. 272. The bravest of their youth he enlisted among his land or sea forces.
1858. Fonblanque, How We are Governed, 99. The number of soldiers to be employed, and the terms upon which they shall be enlisted.
2. transf. and fig. To engage (a person) for domestic service (humorous); to secure (a person or his services) as an aid in any enterprise; to range (persons) in a particular class, or (feelings, etc.) in support of a cause; to make (natural forces, science, etc.) available for a special purpose.
1753. Smollett, Ct. Fathom (1784), 90/1. He likewise inlisted another footman and valet de chambre into his service.
1781. Cowper, Conversation, 205. A graver fact, enlisted on your side, May furnish illustration well applied.
1791. Boswell, Johnson, an. 1738. He was … inlisted by Mr. Cave as a regular coadjutor in his magazine.
1826. Q. Rev., XXXIV. 117. It was clever to inlist on his side those venerable prejudices.
1837. Disraeli, Venetia, IV. ix. (1871), 259. So he resolved to enlist the aunt as his friend.
1842. W. Morgan, in Abdy, Water-cure (1843), 218. The continued use of such liquors … enlists the moderate man into the ranks of the drunkard.
1867. Smiles, Huguenots Eng., ii. (1880), 31. The Reformers early enlisted music in their service.
1884. Manch. Exam., 4 June, 5/1. To enlist public interest in the wretched lot of the Dorsetshire labourer.
3. refl. Chiefly in sense 1. Now rare: superseded by 4.
1750. Johnson, Rambl., No. 19, ¶ 4. That class in which he should inlist himself.
1774. Chesterf., Lett., I. 72. The people … refused to enlist themselves in military service.
1783. Watson, Philip III. (1839), 57. [He] persuaded many of his countrymen to enlist themselves under his banners.
4. intr. for refl. To have one’s name inscribed in a list of recruits; to engage for military service. Also transf. and fig.
1776. Gibbon, Decl. & F., I. vii. 137. His victory was rewarded by … a permission to inlist in the troops.
1790. Beatson, Nav. & Mil. Mem., I. 274. Part of them inlisted with the Corsicans.
1793. Burke, Conduct of Minority, Wks. 1815, VII. 265. The former class … would be ready to enlist in the faction of the enemy.
1840. Dickens, Barn. Rudge, xxxi. A carter in a smock-frock seemed wavering and disposed to enlist.
1865. H. Phillips, Amer. Paper Curr., II. 100. Specie was also proposed as a bounty to induce men to enlist.
Hence Enlisted ppl. a., enrolled for military service. Enlister, one who enlists men for military service; a recruiting officer. Enlisting vbl. sb., the action of the vb. ENLIST; also attrib.
1724. Briton, 118. The enlisted Men were, for the most part, Irish Papists.
1882. Hinsdale, Garfield & Educ., 431. The majority of the twenty-five thousand enlisted men in the army are native-born citizens.
1865. Carlyle, Fredk. Gt., VIII. XIX. ix. 272. The whole German Reich was deluged with secret Prussian Enlisters.
1807. J. Marshall, Const. Opin., iv. (1839), 50. The mere enlisting of men without assembling them is not levying war.
1846. M’Culloch, Acc. Brit. Empire (1854), II. 443. The enlisting money and other expenses.
