circuitous

English

WOTD – 30 January 2007

Etymology

First attested in 1664. From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin circuitōsus, from circuitus, from circumeō (“I go around”), from circum (“around”) + eō (“I go”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɜːˈkjuːɪtəs/
• IPA^(key): /sɚˈkjuːətəs/, /sɚˈkjuːɪtəs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

circuitous (comparative more circuitous, superlative most circuitous)

1. Not direct or to the point.
2. Of a long and winding route.
   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 8, in The Celebrity:

     I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed. And thus we came by a circuitous route to Mohair, the judge occupied by his own guilty thoughts, and I by others not less disturbing.

Synonyms

• (not direct): indirect, roundabout
• (of a winding route): roundabout, tortuous

Derived terms

• circuitously
• circuitousness
• uncircuitous

Translations

not direct or to the point

• Bulgarian: обиколен (bg) (obikolen)
• Dutch: omslachtig (nl)
• Finnish: epäsuora (fi)
• German: weitschweifig (de), umständlich (de), indirekt (de), umschweifend
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: tortuoso (it) m
• Maori: āwhiowhio
• Polish: okrężny (pl)
• Russian: окольно (ru) n (okolʹno)
• Swedish: omständlig (sv)

of a long and winding route

• Bulgarian: околен (bg) (okolen), обиколен (bg) (obikolen)
• Finnish: kiertelevä (fi), kaarteleva
• French: tortueux (fr) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: weitläufig (de), verwunden (de), umständlich (de), sich windend
• Russian: окольный (ru) m (okolʹnyj), петляющий (ru) m (petljajuščij)
• Spanish: tortuoso (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} tidak langsung, ^{(please verify)} berputar-putar (id)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}