It's the Word of the Day podcast for August 15th.
Today's word is circumscribe, spelled C-I-R-C-U-M-S-C-R-I-B-E.
Circumscribe is a verb.
To circumscribe something is to limit its range or activity.
Here's the word used in a sentence from Time.
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.
To circumscribe something is to limit its range or activity,
but there is no circumscribing the range of influence the Latin ancestors of the word circumscribe have had.
Circumscribe comes via Middle English from the Latin verb circum scribere,
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 Kirkum are the words 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.
With your Word of the Day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.
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