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circumscribe - 5 dictionary results
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cir⋅cum⋅scribe

  [sur-kuhm-skrahyb, sur-kuhm-skrahyb]
Use circumscribe in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), -scribed, -scrib⋅ing.
1. to draw a line around; encircle: to circumscribe a city on a map.
2. to enclose within bounds; limit or confine, esp. narrowly: Her social activities are circumscribed by school regulations.
3. to mark off; define; delimit: to circumscribe the area of a science.
4. Geometry.
a. to draw (a figure) around another figure so as to touch as many points as possible.
b. (of a figure) to enclose (another figure) in this manner.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L circumscrībere, equiv. to circum- circum- + scrībere to write

Related forms:
cir⋅cum⋅scrib⋅a⋅ble, adjective
cir⋅cum⋅scrib⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
2. restrict, restrain, check, hamper, hinder.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To circumscribe
cir·cum·scribe   (sûr'kəm-skrīb')   
tr.v.   cir·cum·scribed, cir·cum·scrib·ing, cir·cum·scribes
  1. To draw a line around; encircle.
  2. To limit narrowly; restrict.
  3. To determine the limits of; define. See Synonyms at limit.
    1. To enclose (a polygon or polyhedron) within a configuration of lines, curves, or surfaces so that every vertex of the enclosed object is incident on the enclosing configuration.
    2. To erect (such a configuration) around a polygon or polyhedron: circumscribe a circle around a square.

[Middle English circumscriben, from Latin circumscrībere : circum-, circum- + scrībere, to write; see skrībh- in Indo-European roots.]
cir'cum·scrib'a·ble adj., cir'cum·scrib'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Circumscribe

Cir`cum*scribe"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Circumscribed; p. pr. & vb. n. Circumscribing.] [L. circumscribere, -scriptum; circum + scribere to write, draw. See Soribe.]

1. to write or engrave around. [R.]

Thereon is circumscribed this epitaph. --Ashmole.

2. To inclose within a certain limit; to hem in; to surround; to bound; to confine; to restrain.

To circumscribe royal power. --Bancroft.

3. (Geom.) To draw a line around so as to touch at certain points without cutting. See Inscribe, 5.

Syn: To bound; limit; restrict; confine; abridge; restrain; environ; encircle; inclose; encompass.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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circumscribe 
c.1385, from L. circumscribere "to draw a line around, limit, confine," from circum- "around" + scribere "write" (see script).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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circumscribe   (sûr'kəm-skrīb')  Pronunciation Key 
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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