circumlocution

名词 n.
中文释义
英 /ˌsɜːkəmləˈkjuːʃən/    美 /ˌsɝkəmləˈkjuʃən/

英文释义

名词 n.
  1. A roundabout or indirect way of speaking; thus uncountable
    — 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. A roundabout or indirect way of speaking; thus:; Unnecessary use of extra words to express an idea, such as a pleonastic phrase (sometimes driven by an attempt at emphatic clarity) or a wordy substitution (the latter driven by euphemistic intent, pedagogic intent, or sometimes loquaciousness alone). uncountable
  3. A roundabout or indirect way of speaking; thus:; Necessary use of a phrase to circumvent either a vocabulary fault (of speaker or listener) or a lexical gap, either monolingually or in translation. uncountable
    — A technical word, such as hyperkalemia or hypoallergenic, can be glossed for general audiences with a circumlocution, such as "high potassium level" or "less likely to cause allergies" (respectively).
  4. An instance of such usage; a roundabout expression, whether an inadvisable one or a necessary one. countable

词形变化

circumlocutions plural

词汇关系

近义词
ambages periphrasis
衍生词
circumlocutional circumlocutionary circumlocutionist circumlocutionize circumlocution office circumlocutious circumlocutory
相关词
pleonasm beat around the bush go around the houses euphemism mince words mince matters equivocation evasive prevarication hedge waffle

词源

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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