Also 5 insamble. [a. Fr. ensemble:—late L. insimul, f. in in + simul at the same time.]
† A. adv. Together, at the same time. Obs.
c. 1440. Anc. Cookery, in Househ. Ord. (1790), 457. And when hit is boylet ensemble in the settynge doune, put therto a lytel vynegur.
1494. Fabyan, VII. 482. The .ii. cardynallys ensemble sped theim vnto Parys. Ibid., VII. 574. Vpon the .vii. daye in lyke wyse played insamble an Henauder, and one Iohn Standysshe, esquyer.
a. 1528. Skelton, Sp. Parrot, 417. For ffrantiknes and wylfulnes and braynles ensembyll, The nebbis of a lyon they make to trete and trembyll.
ǁ B. sb. (Only as Fr.)
1. All the parts of anything taken together so that each part is considered only in relation to the whole; the general effect (of a person’s appearance, a whole work of art, etc.). Also Tout ensemble [Fr. tout all] in same sense.
1703. Tate, Portrait-Roy. H. M. Picture, Notes 22. There must be, what Painters call, an agreement of the Tout Ensemble.
1750. Chesterf., Lett. (1792), III. ccxxxv. 70. All these trifling things … collectively form that pleasing je ne sçais quoi, that ensemble, which they are utter strangers to.
1782. Pownall, Stud. Antiq., 81. The ensemble of the piece will be hid from us and unintelligible.
1823. Byron, Juan, XIV. xl. The ‘tout ensemble’ of his movements wore a Grace.
1833. Ht. Martineau, Briery Creek, v. 108. One might almost call his ensemble slovenly to-day.
1855. H. Spencer, Princ. Psychol. (1872), II. VI. ix. 126. The proportions of its body and limbs in their ensemble and details, are nearly the same.
1879. Beerbohm, Patagonia, iii. 37. A shaggy beard and moustache completed the toutensemble of his really striking face.
2. Mil.
1853. Stocqueler, Mil. Encycl., Ensemble, together; the exact execution of the same movements, performed in the same manner, and by the same motions.
