about

Meanings

1. 1
   prep

   on the subject of; concerning

   We talked about our holiday plans.

2. 2
   adv

   a little more or less than a number; approximately

   Last night's bill was about twenty dollars.

3. 3
   adv

   in many directions or in different parts of a place

   Clothes were lying about the room.

Common collocations

• ask about Verb + preposition/particle
• hear about Verb + preposition/particle

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *ana- Proto-West Germanic *ana- Old English on-? Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁epsder. Proto-Indo-European *h₁epider. Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi Proto-Germanic *bi Proto-West Germanic *bī Proto-West Germanic *bi- Proto-Indo-European *úd Proto-Germanic *ūt Proto-West Germanic *ūtō Proto-West Germanic *ūtan Proto-West Germanic *biūtan Old English būtan Old English onbūtan Middle English aboute English about Preposition and adverb from Middle English aboute, abouten, from Old English abūtan, onbūtan, from on (“in, on”) + būtan (“outside of”), i…

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images