Dictionary

ambit en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈæmbɪt/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• (Received-Pronunciation) audio

Etymology

From Late Middle English ambyte, borrowed from Latin ambitus (“circuit; circumference, perimeter; area within a perimeter; ground around a building; cycle, orbit, revolution”) (compare Late Latin ambitus (“neighbourhood; wall of a castle, monastery, or town; cloister; parish boundary”)), from ambīre + -tus (suffix forming verbal nouns from verbs). Ambīre is the present active infinitive of ambiō (“to go around, to skirt; to encircle, surround”), from ambi- (“prefix meaning ‘both, on both sides’”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- (“front; face; forehead”)) + eō (“to go, move”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”)). The English word is a doublet of ambitus.

Meanings

1. The extent of actions, thoughts, or the meaning of words, etc.
   • Nickle shrugged his shoulders to indicate the inexpressible ambit of Mr. Bronsky's obvious shortcomings. 1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London:
2. (broadly) The extent of actions, thoughts, or the meaning of words, etc. ▸ The area or sphere of control and influence of something.
   • He had invited Destiny to sweep him up in her reaping, by placing himself in the ambit of her scythe; but the sharp reaping-hook had passed him by. 1913, Gilbert Parker, “‘The Alpine Fellow’”, in The Judgment House […], uniform edition, Toronto, Ont.: The Copp, Clark Co., →OCLC, book IV, pages 412–413:
3. (archaic) The boundary around a building, town, region, etc.
4. (archaic, rare) The circumference of something circular; also, an arc; a circuit, an orbit.
5. (obsolete) Chiefly in the plural form ambits: the open space surrounding a building, town, etc.; the grounds or precincts of a place.

Forms

Deriveds

ambit claim

Relateds

ambitus

Synonyms

curtilage

Translations (37)

pt âmbito (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · it ambito (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · es zona de influencia (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · es ámbito (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · it ambito (boundary around a building, town, region, etc.) · fr champ (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · bg сфера на влияние (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · fi piiri (extent of actions, thoughts, etc.) · de Herrschaftsbereich (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · de Umgrenzung (boundary around a building, town, region, etc.) · de Einflusssphäre (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · de Begrenzung (boundary around a building, town, region, etc.) · de Einflussbereich (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · bg обиколка (boundary around a building, town, region, etc.) · de Einflussgebiet (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · hu kiterjedés (boundary around a building, town, region, etc.) · de Grenze (boundary around a building, town, region, etc.) · pt esfera (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · ca zona d'influència (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · fi piiri (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · hu hatáskör (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · bg граница (boundary around a building, town, region, etc.) · de Bereichsgrenze (boundary around a building, town, region, etc.) · de Umfriedung (boundary around a building, town, region, etc.) · fi piiri (boundary around a building, town, region, etc.) · de Machtbereich (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · fr portée (boundary around a building, town, region, etc.) · pt âmbito (extent of actions, thoughts, etc.) · de Abgrenzung (boundary around a building, town, region, etc.) · bg окръжение (boundary around a building, town, region, etc.) · de Geltungsbereich (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · fi raja (boundary around a building, town, region, etc.) · gl ámbito (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · pt âmbito (boundary around a building, town, region, etc.) · es ámbito (boundary around a building, town, region, etc.) · de Wirkungsbereich (area or sphere of control and influence of something) · ca àmbit (area or sphere of control and influence of something)