From Latin 'enumerare' (to count out fully) — to enumerate is not merely to count but to count exhaustively.
To mention or name one by one; to count or list systematically; to ascertain the number of.
From Latin 'ēnumerātus,' past participle of 'ēnumerāre' (to count out, to reckon up, to recount), composed of 'ē-' (out, from — variant of 'ex-') and 'numerāre' (to count, to number), from 'numerus' (number). The prefix 'ē-/ex-' adds the sense of completeness or exhaustiveness: to enumerate is to count out fully, to leave nothing uncounted. The word entered English in the mid-seventeenth century
The US Constitution mandates an 'enumeration' of the population every ten years — the census. Article I, Section 2 specifies that 'the actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress.' The Founders chose the formal Latin-derived word 'enumeration' rather than the simpler 'count' or 'census,' perhaps because the constitutional
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