Circumlocution

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Circumlocution \Cir`cum*lo*cu"tion\, n. [L. circumlocutio, fr.
     circumloqui, -locutus, to make use of circumlocution; circum
     + loqui to speak. See {Loquacious}.]
     The use of many words to express an idea that might be
     expressed by few; indirect or roundabout language; a
     periphrase.


     [1913 Webster]
  
           the plain Billingsgate way of calling names . . . would
           save abundance of time lost by circumlocution. --Swift.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Circumlocution office}, a term of ridicule for a
        governmental office where business is delayed by passing
        through the hands of different officials.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  circumlocution
       n 1: a style that involves indirect ways of expressing things
            [syn: {periphrasis}, {ambage}]
       2: an indirect way of expressing something [syn: {indirect
          expression}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  68 Moby Thesaurus words for "circumlocution":
     ambages, anfractuosity, circling, circuition, circuitousness,
     circuitry, circularity, circulation, circumambages, circumambience,
     circumambiency, circumambulation, circumbendibus, circumflexion,
     circummigration, circumnavigation, circumvolution, convolution,
     crinkle, crinkling, deviance, deviancy, deviation, deviousness,
     digression, excursion, excursus, flexuosity, flexuousness, gyre,
     gyring, indirection, intorsion, involution, meander, meandering,
     obliqueness, orbit, orbiting, periphrase, periphrasis, pleonasm,
     redundancy, rivulation, roundabout, roundaboutness, rounding,
     sinuation, sinuosity, sinuousness, slinkiness, snakiness, spiral,
     spiraling, tautology, torsion, tortility, tortuosity, tortuousness,
     turn, turning, twisting, undulation, verbality, wave, waving,
     wheeling, winding