circumambient en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
From Latin circum (“around”) + ambiō, from amb- (“both side”) + eō (“go”), literally "go on both sides of". Synchronically circum- + ambient.
Meanings
- Including all aspects of; encompassing.
-
Surrounding.
Thus gaiety and cheerfulness prevail, / Spreading from young to old, from old to young, / And no one seems to want his share.—Immense / Is the recess, the circumambient world / Magnificent, by which they are embraced: […]
1799–1805 (date written), William Wordsworth, “Book VIII. Retrospect.—Love of Nature Leading to Love of Man.”, in The Prelude, or Growth of a Poet’s Mind; an Autobiographical Poem, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 209:Groups of citizens—broad-browed Roman colonists and coarse-haired Romanised natives, together with obvious hybrids of the two strains, alike clad in cheap woollen togas—and sprinklings of helmeted legionaries and coarse-mantled, black-bearded tribesmen of the circumambient Vascones—all thronged the few paved streets and forum; moved by some vague and ill-defined uneasiness.
1927, H. P. Lovecraft, The Very Old Folk:Philip seemed really to be born again. He breathed the circumambient air as though he had never breathed it before, and he took a child's pleasure in all the facts of the world.
1915, W. S. Maugham, Of Human Bondage:The growling circumambient toils of London around them fadedbefore the calm of these innocent precincts.
1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia (Avignon Quintet), Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 517:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| more circumambient | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic | |
| most circumambient | Degree=Sup | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Translations (2)
bg всеобхватен (including all aspects) · fi kattava (including all aspects)