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circumscribe

 - 3 dictionary results

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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Word Origin & History

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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