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circumduco

Etymology and origin of the Latin word circumduco

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (dūcō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kɪr.kʊnˈduː.koː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [t͡ʃir.kumˈduː.ko][1]

Forms

circumdūcō (present infinitive circumdūcere, perfect active circumdūxī, supine circumductum); third conjugation, irregular short imperative[1]

Etymology

It is from circum- (“around”) and dūcō “to lead”.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it in the senses “to trick” and “to show round”, and uses the imperative circumdūce.[2][3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant to lead round in a circle, wheel round, as Cicero's plough drawn round to trace a city's bounds, and to lead by a roundabout route as a manoeuvre, frequent in military language, as in Livy.[2][5][3] Figuratively it meant to mislead, cheat someone out of something, as in Plautus, and to show someone round.[2] In grammar it meant to pronounce with a circumflex, prolong a sound, as in Quintilian, and in Pliny the Elder to go round or draw a line round; in law to cancel.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to lead about.[6] It survives in Italian circondurre.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of deceiving and of showing round.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of drawing a plough round.[5][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of leading troops round.[2][4]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of prolonging a sound.[2][4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To lead round, wheel round.[2]
  2. To lead by a roundabout route.[2]
  3. To deceive, cheat.[2]
  4. To show round.[2]
  5. (grammar) To pronounce with a circumflex, prolong.[2]
  6. To go round; to draw a line round.[2]

Word family

  • circumductiō
  • circumductor
  • circumductum
  • circumductus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Circumduco.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/circumduco. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·