View synonyms for circumscribe

circumscribe

[ sur-kuhm-skrahyb, sur-kuhm-skrahyb ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used with object)

, cir·cum·scribed, cir·cum·scrib·ing.

to draw a line around; encircle:
to circumscribe a city on a map.
to enclose within bounds; limit or confine, especially narrowly:
Her social activities are circumscribed by school regulations.
Synonyms: hinder, hamper, check, restrain, restrict
to mark off; define; delimit:
to circumscribe the area of a science.
Geometry.
1. to draw (a figure) around another figure so as to touch as many points as possible.
2. (of a figure) to enclose (another figure) in this manner.

circumscribe

/ ˌsɜːkəmˈskraɪb; ˈsɜːkəmˌskraɪb /

to restrict within limits
to mark or set the bounds of
to draw a geometric construction around (another construction) so that the two are in contact but do not intersect Compare inscribe
to draw a line round

circumscribe

/ sûr′kəm-skrīb′ /

To draw a figure around another figure so as to touch as many points as possible. A circle that is circumscribed around a triangle touches it at each of the triangle's three vertices.

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin circumscrībere, equivalent to circum- circum- + scrībere to write

C15: from Latin circumscrībere, from circum- + scrībere to write

Their opponents accepted the issue, and resolved to circumscribe the duke's inordinate powers.

It is my wish to state it with precision and circumscribe its limits here at the very start.

A new spirit has now gone abroad which no walls can bound or circumscribe.

This finally came to be so urgent that it even involved an effort to circumscribe the futile activities.

Of a simple and solid edifice, it is not easy, however, to circumscribe the duration.

Browse