circumlocution

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A roundabout or indirect way of speaking; thus

   Circumlocution is a large deſcription either to ſette forth a thyng more gorgiouſlie, or els to hyde it, if the eares cannot beare the open ſpeakyng: or when with fewe woordes we cannot open our meanyng, to ſpeake it more largely.

2. 2
   noun

   an indirect way of expressing something

3. 3
   noun

   a style that involves indirect ways of expressing things

4. 4
   noun

   A roundabout or indirect way of speaking; thus:

From Latin circumlocūtiō (“the act of speaking around; circumlocution, periphrasis”). By surface analysis, circum- (“around”) + locution (“talk”), thus "getting around (a problem) in speaking or writing". Probably a calque of Ancient Greek περίφρασις (períphrasis, “periphrasis”).

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