Word
Of
The
Day
circumscribe
circumscribe • \SER-kum-skrybe\ •
verb
To circumscribe something is to limit its range or activity.
// The president’s decision-making power was carefully
circumscribed by the company’s board.
See the entry >
Examples:
“A mid-credits scene that shows Santos and Mel at a karaoke bar performing a duet ... might seem to be a throwaway. But it’s more like a glimmer of a happy ending. By blowing off steam together, Mel is forming an independent identity and Santos is finding a healthy outlet for her anger. This could be the first step, for both of them, towards escaping a life
circumscribed by work …” — Judy Berman,
Time, 16 Apr. 2026
Did you know?
To circumscribe something is to limit its range or activity, but there is no circumscribing the range of influence the Latin ancestors of
circumscribe have had.
Circumscribe comes via Middle English from the Latin verb
circumscribere (which roughly translates as “to draw a circle around”), which in turn comes from
circum-, meaning “circle,” and
scribere, meaning “to write or draw.” Among the many descendants of
circum- are
circuit,
circumference,
circumnavigate,
circumspect,
circumstance, and
circumvent.
Scribere gave us such words as
scribe and
scribble, as well as
ascribe,
describe, and
transcribe, among others.
