To circumscribe something is to limit its size, activity, or range, but the range of influence of the Latin ancestors of circumscribe knows no bounds.

Nov 16, 2025 · circumscribe (third-person singular simple present circumscribes, present participle circumscribing, simple past and past participle circumscribed) To draw a line around; to encircle.

If you circumscribe a triangle, square, etc., you draw a circle that surrounds it and touches each of its corners.

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. The American …

As traditionally circumscribed, it consists of 36 genera and about 300 species.

CIRCUMSCRIBE definition: to draw a line around; encircle. See examples of circumscribe used in a sentence.

Definition of circumscribe verb in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

CIRCUMSCRIBE meaning: 1 : to limit the size or amount of (something) usually used as (be) circumscribed; 2 : to draw a shape around (another shape)

There are eight meanings listed in OED's entry for the verb circumscribe, two of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

cir•cum•scribe /ˈsɜrkəmˌskraɪb/ v. [~ + object], -scribed, -scrib•ing. encircle. restrict: His powers were carefully circumscribed. See -scrib-. cir•cum•scribe (sûr′ kəm skrīb′, sûr′kəm skrīb′), v.t., -scribed, …