empanel and empannel
Preserved but no longer current.
These similar words have very different meanings. To empanel is to form a list of jurors, or to enrol them; to empannel (a rarely used word, it is true) is to saddle a horse or ass, or more particularly to put the pack-saddle on a beast of burden.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “empanel and empannel” mean?
These similar words have very different meanings. To empanel is to form a list of jurors, or to enrol them; to empannel (a rarely used word, it is true) is to saddle a horse or ass, or more particularly to put the pack-saddle on a beast of burden.
Is “empanel and empannel” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.