Etymologically
Log in

roundabout

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the English word roundabout

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1300s
Ultimate origin
English round,about
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English round
English roundabout
From the same root
English rounder ← round
English roundup ← round

Pronunciation

  • /ˈɹaʊndəˌbaʊt/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English round + about:[2][3] the noun and the adjective are conversions of the adverb round about.[4][5][6] Etymonline records the Middle English adverb roundeaboute from the mid-14th century.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adverb, "by a roundabout way" and "on all sides", and as an adjective, "in a ring or circle": both by the mid-14th century.[2] The Shorter Oxford also dates the adjective, in the sense "circular", to Middle English.[5] The noun, "something circular, a circular course", is first recorded about 1535.[4][6]

Semantic evolution

The early noun was used of many round things: a farthingale (1555), a Scottish oatcake (1706), a prehistoric earthwork in Scotland (1795), a plump person (1809).[4] From the circular course came the senses of indirection: a circumlocution or euphemism (about 1570),[4] the adjective "circuitous, indirect" (by 1608),[6][5][2] and a detour (before 1734).[4][2] Johnson (1755) disliked the adjective, which he called an adverb joined to a noun "by a colloquial license of language, which ought not to have been admitted into books".[7] The fairground ride, a merry-go-round, is recorded from 1763,[4][2] and in prison slang of the 1820s the treadmill was a roundabout.[8] In the 19th century American English used the word for a short close-fitting jacket and a chair with a rounded back.[5][9] The road junction round a central island is the latest sense, from 1926–27.[10][2]

Timeline

  • mid-14th century – adverb, by a circuitous way; adjective, in a ring.[2]
  • c. 1535 – noun, something circular; a circular course.[4][6]
  • c. 1570 – a circumlocution or euphemism.[4]
  • 1608 – adjective, circuitous, indirect.[6] Etymonline dates the adjective to about 1600.[2]
  • before 1734 – a circuitous journey, a detour.[4] Etymonline dates it to 1755.[2]
  • 1763 – a merry-go-round.[4][2]
  • 1809 – a plump person (obsolete).[4]
  • 1823 – prison slang, the treadmill.[8]
  • 1926 – a road junction with traffic moving round a central island.[10] Etymonline dates it to 1927.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (chiefly British) A road junction at which traffic moves in one direction round a central island; a traffic circle: Take the second exit at the roundabout.[11][5][12]
  2. (chiefly British) A merry-go-round; also, a large revolving platform in a playground for children to ride on.[11][4][5]
  3. A roundabout route; a detour; now rare.[4][6][5]
  4. An indirect way of saying something; a circumlocution; now rare.[4][5]
  5. (US, 19th century) A short, close-fitting jacket worn by men and boys.[9][5]

Adjective

  1. Not direct; circuitous or winding: We took a roundabout way home to avoid the traffic.[11][6][5]
  2. Not straightforward in speech or behaviour; evasive: a roundabout answer.[6][11][5]

Word family

  • roundaboutness

Usage notes

Collins notes that the road junction is called a traffic circle in the United States and Canada.[11]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  8. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  9. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  11. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  12. ^ Deverson, Tony; Kennedy, Graeme, eds. (2005), The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary, Auckland: Oxford University Press
Cite this entry

“Roundabout.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/roundabout. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·