circumscribe

American  

[sur-kuhm-skrahyb, sur-kuhm-skrahyb] / ˈsɜr kəmˌskraɪb, ˌsɜr kəmˈskraɪb /

verb (used with object)

circumscribed, circumscribing

1. to draw a line around; encircle.

   to circumscribe a city on a map.

2. to enclose within bounds; limit or confine, especially narrowly.

   Her social activities are circumscribed by school regulations.

   Synonyms:

   hinder, hamper, check, restrain, restrict

3. to mark off; define; delimit.

   to circumscribe the area of a science.

4. Geometry.

   1. to draw (a figure) around another figure so as to touch as many points as possible.

   2. (of a figure) to enclose (another figure) in this manner.

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circumscribe British  

/ ˌsɜːkəmˈskraɪb, ˈsɜːkəmˌskraɪb /

verb

1. to restrict within limits

2. to mark or set the bounds of

3. to draw a geometric construction around (another construction) so that the two are in contact but do not intersect Compare inscribe

4. to draw a line round

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circumscribe Scientific  

/ sûr′kəm-skrīb′ /

1. 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.

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Other Word Forms

• circumscribable adjective
• circumscriber noun
• noncircumscribed adjective
• uncircumscribable adjective
• uncircumscribed adjective

Etymology

Origin of circumscribe

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin circumscrībere, equivalent to circum- circum- + scrībere to write

Explanation

To circumscribe is to limit or restrict. If you spend too much time watching TV instead of fulfilling other obligations, you might circumscribe your TV-watching time to one hour daily (or two hours, if your favorite show is on). Circumscribe comes from the Latin words circum, meaning "around," and scribere, meaning "to write." If the word circumscribe causes you to think of geometry class, give yourself a pat on the back. In geometry, circumscribe means to draw one geometric figure around another figure so that the two figures touch but don’t intersect. If you studied geometry but this sounds unfamiliar, perhaps you should have taken our advice about watching too much TV.

Example Sentences

Perhaps anyone could guess as much, but what a layman might never know without Stanford’s book is that our busy roads severely circumscribe the territory cougars can roam, leading to isolation and inbreeding.

From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2024

The charter provision does not appear to circumscribe that investigative authority for the department’s highest-ranking officer, the police chief.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 13, 2023

If successful, its stem-cell-derived therapy would eliminate the pin-pricks and insulin injections that circumscribe the lives of the 1.5 million Americans with Type 1 diabetes.

From New York Times • Aug. 9, 2022

And, in futuristic novels, oppressive regimes such as Margaret Atwood’s Gilead in The Handmaid’s Tale severely circumscribe touch.

From The Guardian • May 22, 2020

We may now, without walls, have secure boundaries—we may keep out trespassers without excluding  the fresh air—and we may circumscribe our limits without diminishing our external prospects.

From A Morning's Walk from London to Kew by Phillips, Richard

Related Words

• delineate