circumlocution

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English circumlocucioun,^[2][3] borrowed from Latin circumlocūtiō,^[4][5][3][6] from circumloquor (“to talk round”), formed with circum- (“around”) and loquor (“to speak”).^[3][6][7] Etymonline analyses the Latin noun as circum and locūtiō (“a speaking”),^[5] the second being the source of locution.^[6] Hoad, the OED and the Shorter Oxford also allow French circonlocution as a source,^[8][9][10] and Barnhart thinks the Old French word may have influenced the adoption.^[4] The Latin word is a loan translation of Ancient Greek περίφρασις (períphrasis), the source of periphrasis.^{[4][5][8][11]} Etymonline and the American Heritage Dictionary derive the Latin verb from Proto-Indo-European *tolkʷ- (“to speak”),^[5][3] while Barnhart calls it of uncertain origin.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A roundabout rendering in words: before 1401, in a manuscript from before 1500 of the Chastising, which says that the Bible cannot be translated into a vulgar tongue “wiþoute greet circumlocucioun”.^[2][4] The Middle English Dictionary glosses the word "a paraphrase or commentary".^[2] Etymonline dates it to about 1400.^[5] The OED entry, published in 1889 and not fully revised, has its first record in about 1518, in A. Barclay's translation of Mancinus, as does the Merriam-Webster Unabridged.^[9][12]

Semantic evolution

The OED defines it as speaking in a roundabout way, the use of several words instead of one, and says that it was formerly used of grammatical periphrasis.^[9] From 1533, in Tyndale, it could also be a single roundabout phrase.^[9] Johnson (1755) separated "a circuit or compass of words" from "the use of indirect expressions", quoting L'Estrange on people to be dealt with only by "a train of mystery and circumlocution".^[13] Modern dictionaries add evasive talk.^[12][10][5] Weekley notes the Circumlocution Office of Little Dorrit, skilled in the art of "How not to do it".^[11]

Timeline

• before 1401 – a roundabout rendering, in writing about Bible translation.^[2][4]
• c. 1518 – speaking in a roundabout way; many words instead of few.^[9][12]
• 1533 – a roundabout phrase or sentence.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The use of more words than an idea needs; indirect or roundabout expression: The memo buried its one point in a page of circumlocution.^[12][14][9]
2. Evasion in speech.^[12][10]
3. A single roundabout phrase or expression.^[12][14][9]

Word family

• circumlocutorily
• circumlocutory

Related words

• locution
• periphrasis
• loquacious
• eloquent

Usage notes

Etymonline separates periphrasis, a roundabout naming used with effect, from circumlocution, the faulty use of the same figure.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins