|
Home
|
Aug 17, 2026
This week’s themeWords that say it twice This week’s words 
Star Trails at Mt Bromo, Indonesia
Photo: Zexsen Xie Previous week’s theme Is it a noun or a verb? Both! Wordsmith Games
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu GargLast Sat, I ran my sixth marathon, in Bergen, Norway. It was my first on a looped course: eight trips around the same route. This week’s words are models of restraint by comparison. They cover the same ground only twice. We’re not talking about ATM machine or PIN number. Rather, words where the repetition is baked into the word itself, as in pathway, which amounts to saying way way. Welcome to the Department of Redundancy Department! Each word featured this week contains two elements that mean the same or nearly the same thing. Sometimes the elements came from different languages. At other times an old meaning faded from view, hiding the repetition. And occasionally the doubling was a matter of emphasis. Whatever the reason, each word this week arrives with an echo. One part speaks, and the other says, “Same here!” circumambient
PRONUNCIATION:
(suhr-kuhm-AM-bee-uhnt)
MEANING:
adjective: Surrounding.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin circum- (around) + ambire (to go around), from amb- (around)
+ ire (to go). Earliest documented use: 1633.
NOTES:
Circumambient takes two laps around its meaning. One lap would have
sufficed, but Latin bought the day pass. The wheels on the bus go round and
round. Also, clock hands, records, star trails, rumors, and circular
definitions. What else can be invited to this round and round party?
Mozart’s Rondo alla turca can provide the soundtrack.
USAGE:
“[Heit] was strangely affected, not only by her looks but this
circumambient atmosphere of suspicion.” Theodore Dreiser; An American Tragedy; Boni & Liveright; 1925. See more usage examples of circumambient in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The only thing people regret is that they didn't live boldly enough, that
they didn't invest enough heart, didn't love enough. -Ted Hughes, poet (17
Aug 1930-1998)
|
|
Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise
© 1994-2026 Wordsmith