surround

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To be all around something or someone on every side.

   Tall trees surround the house.

2. 2
   verb

   To move around something or someone so that they cannot escape.

   Police surrounded the building within minutes.

3. 3
   noun

   A border or frame placed around something.

   The fireplace had a beautiful brick surround.

Simplified etymology

Surround came through Old French from late Latin superundare, “to overflow,” formed from super-, “over,” and undare, “to flow.” Its earliest English sense was “overflow” or “flood”; influence from round helped produce the modern meaning, while the military sense “enclose on all sides” arose in the early 17th century.

From Middle English sourrounden (“to submerge, overflow”), from Middle French souronder, suronder, from Late Latin superundō, from super + undō (“to rise in waves”), from unda (“wave”).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary