▪ I. about, adv. and prep.
(əˈbaʊt)
Forms: 1–2 on-b{uacu}tan, a-b{uacu}tan, a-buton; 2–3 a-buten, abuuten; 3 abute; (4 abote); 4–5 abouten, abowten; 4–6 aboute; 5 (abought, abowght); 6– about. North.: 3 abut; 4 about, obout, abowt (with final e already dropped). By-form, 5 abowtes, abouts, with genitival ending.
[OE. on-b{uacu}tan (cf. OFries. abûta), f. on in, on + b{uacu}tan without, outside of (itself an earlier comb. of be by, near, + {uacu}tan properly locative of {uacu}t out, used adjectively or substantively; cf. be northan, etc.) The primary meaning of on-b{uacu}tan was thus, on or by the outside of, hence around, wholly or partially. The idea of round, about, was originally expressed in OE. by ymbe, and its compound ymb-{uacu}tan; the latter scarcely survived the 11th c., and the former became obs. in the 13th, about taking the place of both. The weakening to a-b{uacu}tan began in the 10th c. Mod. poets have sometimes 'bout. The word was from the first used without (adv.) or with (prep.) an object; the latter in the accus. or dat. The adverbial and prepositional uses are here separated, but the distinction is one of construction rather than of meaning, and it often melts away: see A 3, B 9.]
A. (without obj. expressed) adv. I. Position.
1. a. Around the outside, around; on every side.
| c 1120 O.E. Chron. (Laud. MS.) an. 1090 [Hi] besæton þonne castel abuton. c 1230 Ancren Riwle 246 Kastel þet haueð deope dich abuten, & water beo iðe dich, þe Kastel is wel kareleas aȝean his unwines. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls Ser.) I. 245 Þe Frensche men and Hannibal byseged hem [the Romans] all aboute. 1430 Lydgate Story of Thebes 1339 in Skeat Spec. 37 A bed ryȝt softe, Rychly abouten apparayled With clothe of golde. 1610 Shakes. Temp. v. i. 180 Now all the blessings Of a glad father, compasse thee about. 1673 Ray Journey thro' Low Countries 2 Dunkerk is..strongly fortified all about. 1873 Browning Red Cotton Night-Cap Country 109 The haschisch-man..Then shows him how to smoke himself about With Paradise. |
b. Towards every side, in every or any direction from a point, all round; fig. in cast about, look about.
| 1205 Layamon III. 26 Þa bi-sæh þat wif abuten [1250 aboute]. 1380 Sir Ferumb. 159 Behold aboute now y praye, ouer and on euery helue. c 1400 Cokes Tale of Gamelyn 550 The scherref aboute cast Gamelyn for to take. 1591 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iii. v. 40 The day is broke, be wary, looke about. 1697 Dryden Virgil's Georg. i. 447 By fits he deals his fiery Bolts about. |
2. Less definitely: on any side; near, in the neighbourhood, without defining the exact direction.
| 1205 Layamon 12577 Arwen fluȝen ouer wal · al abuten ouer al. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. ii. 158 Sompne alle segges in schires aboute. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 720 Wemen that were neigheboris a-boute. 1388 Wyclif Ecclus. xlvi. 16 The enemyes stondynge aboute on ech side. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxliv. 304 They caught a gyde that knewe al the countreye aboute. 1859 Jephson Brittany vi. 71 Lying about was what seemed to me to be the old altar-stone. 1877 Mrs. Oliphant Makers of Flor. Introd. 12 The tocsins..were sounding all about. Mod. Better to earn a little than hang about doing nothing. |
3. Nearly, approximately; not many more or less;—used with numbers or quantities. (Almost prepositional: about a hundred men were there = men, about a hundred in number, were there. See B 9.)
| 1055 O.E. Chron. (Cotton MS.) Man slóh ðær mycel wæl, abutan feower hund manna, oððe fife. c 1131 ― (Laud. MS.) an. 1127 Þær mihte wel ben abuton twente oðer þritti horn blaweres. 1297 R. Glouc. 247 Þys was in þe ȝer of grace syx hondred ȝer ywys, And aboute an foure & þrytty. 1535 Coverdale Josh. iv. 13 Aboute a fortye thousande men ready harnessed to the warre, wente before the Lorde. 1611 Bible Ex. xxxii. 28 There fell of the people that day about three thousand men. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral Tales (1816) I. iv. 20 A girl of about seven years old. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 348 In 1685 London had been, during about half a century, the most populous capital in Europe. 1879 Lockyer Elem. Astron. vi. 36. 208 Light travels about 186,000 miles a second. |
4. Hence, in familiar language, of degrees of quality: nearly, almost, all but. much about: very nearly.
| 1614 Overbury A Wife, etc. (1638) 94 Much about Gentlemanlike. 1832–6 Cobbett Prospectus of his Wks. (aff. to Eng. Gramm.) In about every one of these works I have pleaded the cause of the working people. 1842 E. Miall Nonconf. II. 335 The money-Moloch of our country..is about the grimmest, fiercest, most implacable god. 1850 E. P. Whipple Ess. & Rev. I. 299 The difference between duty and conduct..about measures the difference between the real and the actual. 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. II. 102 You're about right respecting the bond. 1880 H. Smart Social Sinners I. ix. 182 The first two are about the nicest girls in all London. 1882 Sir W. Harcourt in Times 13 June 10/2 This amendment was about as relevant to the clause as it would be if it related to sheep-stealing. Mod. colloq. I am about tired of this. Is your work about finished? Near about. |
II. Motion.
5. a. Round, in rotation or revolution. Hence, fig. to come about: to revolve (as time), to complete a revolution, to be fulfilled; to come to pass, turn out, or happen. to bring about: to cause to revolve; bring to pass, accomplish.
| c 1000 ælfric Manual of Astron. 10 Seo firmament tyrnð symle onbutan us..& ealle ða steorran..turniað onbutan mid hyre. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 7712 Bot þe planetes er noght led swa, Ffor in þair cercles obout þai ga. c 1450 Merlin 7 The devell was right gladde that he hadde brought this a-bouten. 1535 Coverdale 1 Chron. xxi. 1 And whan y⊇ yeare came aboute, what tyme as y⊇ kynges vse to go forth, Ioab..layed sege vnto Rabba. 1580 Tusser Husbandry x. 45 To make thee repent it ere year about go. 1602 Shakes. Ham. v. ii. 391 And let me speake to th' yet vnknowing world How these things came about. 1607 ― Cor. iv. v. 160 What an Arme he has, he turn'd me about with his finger and his thumbe, as one would set vp a Top. 1681 Worlidge Syst. Agric. 29 Ere the year be about it may yield you three such Crops. 1707 Freind Peterboro's Cond. in Spain 200 A revolt had been brought about in the city of Valencia. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ. (1778) II. 36 Let the heralds officers twist his neck about if they will. 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. I. iv. 239 An accommodation was hardly brought about when Lewis died. |
b. In rotation, in succession; alternately, whether of many or two.
| 1393 Langland P. Pl. C. iii. 232 And ȝaf pardon for pans · pound-meel a-boute. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. ii. i. 50 Butts..at which the inhabitants were to shoot, up and down, (called in the poetical legends ‘shooting about’) upon all feast days. c 1817 J. Hogg Tales & Sketches III. 199 We have often sat together..reading verse about with our children in the Bible. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Lab. III. 145 Turn and turn about's fair play. Billy, now it's your turn. |
6. a. In partial rotation; half round; from front to back or vice versa;—usually with turn, face. Less usually, a short way round; to one side, aside, away. To send one to the right about: right off in the opposite direction, away with a vengeance. To get a thing the wrong way about: by the wrong end or side. To tell a story the other way about: quite oppositely; to bring one about (or round), i.e. from illness or insensibility.
| 1535 Coverdale Prov. xii. 7 Or euer thou canst turne the aboute, the vngodly shal be ouerthrowne. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. ii. vi. 64 The winde is come about, Bassanio presently will goe aboord. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. xlv. 456 He had been a very zealous protestant, but under Q. Mary came about, and was as hot the other way. 1859 Tennyson Elaine 605 Saying that she checked And sharply turned about to hide her face. |
b. Naut. On or to the opposite tack, as to make about, put about, go about, to go about ship.
| 1588 Orders for the Span. Fleet in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 45 If he [the admiral] change her course, or make about. Before he goeth about, he will shoot off a piece; and being about, will put forth another light upon the poop. 1633 Stafford Pac. Hib. xvi. 337 (1821) They tacked about, and made for Kinsale. 1690 Lond. Gaz. mmdlxx. 3 The French Admiral fired a Gun and went about Ship, and stood to the Westward. 1836 Marryat Midsh. Easy xxvi. 103 Don't you think we had better go about? Ibid. xxx. 117 The Aurora was put about. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Ready about! and About-ship! are orders to the company to prepare for tacking. |
7. Round, in circumference; in circuit. lit. and fig.
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. ii. 44 Indeede I am in the waste two yards about. 1600 Hakluyt Voyages (1810) III. 429 A more easie way though it were farther about. 1626 Bacon Sylva §328. (1650) 73 The sure way (though most about) to make gold. 1651 tr. Bacon, Life & Death 62 The Operation..is slow, and as it were about. 1705 Addison Italy (1767) 181, I have seen old Roman rings so very thick about, and with such large stones in them. 1728 Morgan Hist. Algiers II. i. 212 Algiers..measures barely one league about. |
8. In a circuitous or winding course; with frequent turnings; hither and thither; to and fro; up and down. Also, of the position of things so scattered irregularly on a surface: here and there, up and down.
| a 1123 O.E. Chron. (Laud. MS.) an. 1001 And þanon wendon in Wiht-land, and þær him ferdon on buton swa swa hi sylf woldon. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 37 He bereð abuten here senil hakel. 1205 Layamon 25756 Arður eode abute · & his cnihtes bi his siden. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 2361 Bot if a synful myght se with-oute, How foul þe syn es, þat he bers oboute. c 1450 Lonelich Grail xiii. 201 Thanne Kyng Eualach Abowtes gan sende Aftyr his barowns. 1611 Bible Deut. xxxii. 10 Hee ledde him about, he instructed him. 1751 Earl of Chatham Lett. to Nephew ii. 5, I have been moving about from place to place. c 1817 J. Hogg Tales & Sketches V. 150 He bustled about & about, speaking to every one. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 373 He had been willing to be the right hand of Dundee: but he would not be ordered about by Cannon. Mod. To move furniture about; scatter seeds about; find plants growing about; insects crawling about. |
9. Hence: On the move, afoot, astir: going, moving; going on, acting, in action; prevailing (as a disease).
| 1297 R. Glouc. 246 Enfryd, Edwyne's broþer, þo he sey þys wo aboute, To Cadwal he wende, & mercy cryde vor doute. c 1360 Song of Yesterday in E.E.P. (1862) 136 Bisi aboute . þei [children] han ben . To cacchen hit with al heore miht. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. v. 59 About, about, Search Windsor Castle (Elues) within, and out. 1602 ― Ham. ii. ii. 617 Fye vpon't! Foh! About, my Braine! 1663 Pepys Diary (1876) II. 309 The building of St. James's by my Lord St. Albans, which is now about. 1815 M. Birkbeck Jrny. through France 62 The wife of one of the labourers was about, and seemed perfectly hearty. Mod. At present, when small-pox is about. |
† 10. to go about to do anything: to bestir oneself, to busy oneself, to endeavour; to form designs, to contrive, conspire. Obs.
| c 1380 Sir Ferumbras 5821 Al ys for noȝt, ȝe A-boute goes{revsc} ȝe ne bringeþ him neuere to ȝoure purpos. c 1400 Apol. for Loll. 113 [Þei] gredyly gon abowt to geyt al þat þey may. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado i. iii. 12 Thou goest about to apply a morall medicine, to a mortifying mischiefe. 1611 Bible John vii. 19 Why goe ye about to kill me? 1635 N. R. tr. Camden's Elizabeth i. 56 Cardinall Granvill..went about to set the English and the Netherlanders..at variance. 1690 Locke Hum. Underst. I. iv. vii. §i. 276 No Body..ever went about to show the Reason of their Clearness. |
† 11. to be about (for) to do: to be engaged in, to be busied in preparation for, to be scheming, preparing, or intending. Obs. Cf. B 6.
| c 1230 Ancren Riwle 234 Satan is ȝeorne abuten uorto ridlen þe ut of mine corne! c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 284 Thou woldest falsly ben aboute To love my lady. 1541 R. Barnes Wks. 1573, 325/2 The deuell hath beene of long tyme aboute to bring in this snare for priests. 1634 Malory's Arthur (1816) I. 125 ‘You will never be about to do such deeds.’ ‘Nay, son,’ said she, ‘and thereto I make you assurance.’ |
12. Hence, it forms (with the infinitive) a future participle: On the point of, going; as scripturus, about to write, going to write, on the point of writing.
| 1535 Coverdale Josh. xviii. 8 They were aboute to go for to descrybe the londe. 1580 Baret Alvearie, To be about or ready to flie awaye. 1611 Bible Rev. x. 4 And when the seuen thunders had vttered their voices, I was about to write. 1665 Manley tr. Grotius's Low-Countrey-Warrs 289 Prince Maurice..shews his Army in Battel-Array, as if about to storm. 1816 J. Wilson City of the Plague i. iv. 186 The wounded soldier rests his head About to die upon the dead. 1871 Smiles Character (1876) iii. 74 A Catholic money-lender, when about to cheat, was wont to draw a veil over the picture of his favourite saint. |
b. In neg. contexts not about to (do something): not intending to or on the point of. colloq. (chiefly N. Amer.).
| 1959 M. Russ Half Moon Haven i. 96, I ain't about to work that hard for no reason. 1975 [see trasher 2]. 1982 Record Mirror 13 Feb. 18/1 I'm not about to foist something on the public just for the sake of releasing something. |
In this use it passes from the adv. to the prep., which becomes still more distinct in 13. See B 6.
13. By further extension it is used with the verbal n. in the same sense.
| 1793 Smeaton Edystone Lightho. §254 The season we were then about concluding. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. ix. 169 (1873) England seems about deserting him. Ibid. 88 The celestial sign of the balance just about canting. |
B. (with object expressed) prep. I. Position.
1. a. On the outside, on the outer surface of; on every side of, all round; around, surrounding.
| c 880 K. ælfred Pastoral Care xxi. (Sweet, Reader 14) Ond suǽ suǽ se here sceolde bion ᵹetrymed onb{uacu}tan Hierusalem. c 1000 ælfric Exod. xix. 12 Þu tæcst ᵹemæro abutan þone munt. c 1120 O.E. Chron. (Laud. MS.) an. 1104 Feower circulas to þam mid dæᵹe onbutan þære sunnan. 1154 Ibid. 1137 Me dide cnotted strenges abuton here hæued, & diden an scærp iren abuton þa mannes throte. Ibid. 1135 An sterres abuten him at middæi. a 1200 Cotton. Hom. 239 Under him helle muð open. abuuten him all folc. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3455 Abute ðis munt ðu merke make. c 1300 E.E. Psalter (1844) lxxvii. 28 Obout þar teldes þar þai lai. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 158 Of smal coral aboute hire arme sche baar A peire of bedes. c 1450 Lonelich Grail xiv. 216 [He] beheld the hepes that Abowten him were. 1535 Coverdale Ps. cxxxviii. 3 Thou art aboute my path and aboute my bedd. 1611 Bible Mark xii. 1 A certaine man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it. 1655–60 T. Stanley Hist. of Philos. (1701) 9/2 Of equiangle triangles, the sides that are about equal angles are proportional. 1830 Tennyson Dream Fair Women 162 The Roman soldier found Me lying dead, my crown about my brows. 1873 Browning Red Cotton Night-Cap Country 239 The balustrade About the tower. |
b. Towards every side of oneself; in every direction; all round.
| 1340 Ayenb. 150 Vor hi zyeþ briȝtliche and ine hare herten, and al abote ham. c 1380 Sir Ferumbras 126 Þanne þe kyng gan waxe wroþ{revsc} & aboute him gan be-holde. 1535 Coverdale Tob. xi. 5 The mother of Tobias sat daylie..vpon y⊇ toppe of an hill, from whence she might se farre aboute her. 1607 Hieron Wks. I. 397 Many a coward layeth about him for a bout or two. 1625 tr. Gonsalvius, Span. Inquis. 12 Vnlesse he look well about him, and be circumspect in his dealing. 1863 Longfellow Falcon of Ser Federigo 190 He looked about him for some means or way To keep this unexpected holiday. |
2. (Position) around less definitely: around any part of, somewhere near, on some side of (not excluding the inside), in or near. (Shading into 11.)
| 1366 Mandeville iii. 15 Abouten Grece there ben many Iles. 1470 Paston Lett. 641 (1874) II. 399 I wold passyngly fayne that ye wer in London..or nye abowght London. 1535 Coverdale 1 Chron. x. 27 In the nighte season also remayned they aboute the house of God. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. ii. iv. 13 He is about the house. 1653 Walton Angler i. 20 Creatures inhabiting both in and about that element. 1771 Antiq. Sarisbur. 7 Carausius was born of mean parentage about Cleves in Germany. Mod. The Snake's-head grows in meadows about Oxford. The idlers hanging about the door of the public-house. |
3. With persons, the literal sense of around soon passed into those of holding a position beside, being in common intercourse with, habitually connected with, in attendance on, in the suite of.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 55 Pater Noster 13 Abuten us he [beelzebub] is for to blenchen. 1366 Mandeville xxii. 242 Tho lordes only that ben aboute him. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour ii. b, The fend that euer is incessauntly aboute the synnar. 1550 Thomas Ital. Dict., Excubitore, the chamberer that watcheth as it is used aboutes great Personages. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 17 Hang no more about mee, I am no gibbet for you. 1611 ― Wint. T. ii. i. 59 Beare the Boy hence, he shall not come about her. 1723 Bp. O. Blackall Wks. I. 46 They become ten times more uneasy to themselves than to those who are about them. 1837 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (ed. 3) I. xxv. 384 We get used to the things about us. 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. II. ix. 365 The king was allowed to have about him his Norman stallers. |
4. a. Somewhere on or near the person; in one's pockets or other receptacles; with, at hand.
| 1567 J. Maplet A greene Forest 12 b, It [Kabiates] is thought being borne about one to make a man eloquent. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iii. ii. 146 [She] told me what priuie marks I had about mee. 1598 ― Merry W. i. i. 209 You haue not the booke of Riddles about you, haue you? 1637 Milton Comus 647 If you have this [herb] about you..you may Boldly assault the necromancer's hall. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. ii. iii. 86 When they had lost all they had about them, they would sometimes pledge a part of their wearing apparel. |
b. fig. in reference to mental faculties, etc.: about one, at command, in readiness for use.
| 1622, 1809 [see wit n. 3 c]. 1747 Chesterfield Let. 30 Oct. (1774), Wherever you are, have (as the low, vulgar expression is) your ears and your eyes about you. 1779 Mirror 20 Apr. 99 Things were not a bit mended by my wife's sollicitude (who, to do her justice, had all her eyes about her) to correct them. 1873 Newman Idea Univ. (ed. 3) vi. 128 He has his eyes ever about him. 1923 Times Lit. Suppl. 18 Jan. 33/2 We shall need to have our best wits about us if we are to avoid confusion. |
5. Attributive connexion: Appertaining to; attached to as an attribute or attendant circumstance.
| 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. i. 163 His face is the worst thing about him. 1793 Smeaton Edystone Lightho. §254 Leaving every thing about the work, up to the entry door, ready to go to sea. 1859 Jephson Brittany v. 56 There was a look about it..which seemed to me to be foreign. 1876 Freeman Norm. Conq. II. vii. 124 There must have been something specially hateful about this tax. |
6. Practical connexion: Near so as to meddle with; concerned or occupied with; dealing with, attending to, interfering with; prosecuting, trying to do or to make. The early quot. show the transition in ‘busy about,’ from the literal busy round, to busy interfering with. (To send one about his business: off, away, i.e. to attend to his own affairs. See business.) Closely connected with A 10–13, of which the two latter are indeed in modern use prepositional.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 175 Þa þe weren eure abuten þisse worldes echte. c 1220 S. Marherete 16 Ant am in hare beddes so bisi ham a buten. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1610 This thinge the whiche ye ben aboute. c 1400 Apol. for Lollards 23 Þe souereynes of þe kirke howun not to curse for temporal þingis, ne bisy a bowt hem. c 1440 Generydes 1173 (1873) Ffor this iv yere we haue ben it abought. 1605 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 693 The Prince himselfe is about a peece of Iniquitie. 1611 Bible Luke ii. 49 Wist yee not that I must bee about my fathers businesse? 1642 Rogers Naaman 436 The worke which himselfe and Paul went about. 1751 Harris Hermes (1841) 225 These machines..must be the work of one who knew what he was about. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. Introd. 44 Neither might they..prevent any one from passing peaceably about his business. 1878 G. Macdonald Ann. Quiet Neighb. iv. 44 Whoever made it has taken long enough about it. Mod. What are you about there? |
7. a. Abstract connexion: Touching, concerning; in the matter of, in reference or regard to. The regular preposition employed to define the subject-matter of verbal activity, as in to speak, think, ask, dream, hear, know about; to be sorry, pleased, perplexed about; to give orders, instructions, information about; to form plans, have doubts, feel sure about.
| 1230 Ancren Riwle 344 Hu hire stont abuten vleschliche tentaciuns, ȝif heo ham haueð. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xix. (Skeat, Specim. 51) Defautis doon aboute ymagis & pilgrimagis ben myche liȝter & esier to be amendid. 1590 Shakes. Two Gent. iii. i. 2 We haue some secrets to confer about. 1596 ― Merch. V. i. iii. 109 In the Ryalto you haue rated me About my monies and my vsances. 1599 ― (Title) Much Adoe about Nothing. 1611 Bible Lev. vi. 5 All that about which hee hath sworne falsly. 1777 Hume Ess. & Treat. I. 193 Shall we be indifferent about what happens? 1854 Kingsley Alexandria ii. 50 It is better to know one thing than to know about ten thousand things. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 13 Twenty governments, divided by quarrels about precedence, quarrels about territory, quarrels about trade, quarrels about religion. |
b. This passes occasionally into the sense, on account of, because of.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. i. 25 Doe you meane to stoppe any of Williams wages, about the Sacke he lost the other day? 1598 ― Merry W. iv. i. 5 He is very couragious mad, about his throwing into the water. |
c. In colloq. phr. to be (all) about, (of an abstract subject) to be primarily concerned with; to have as a central theme or essential truth. Freq. used without a named subject, as what it's all about, the reality of a situation.
| 1937 P. Tomlin Love Bug will bite You (song) 2 That's what love is all about. 1943 [see hokey-cokey]. 1962 Listener 20 Dec. 1046/2 This immense transition—from being a slave to being a friend—is what Christianity is all about. 1971 A. Shaffer Sleuth i. 39 Poor blighter, he had no idea what it was all about... Sitting there every night hunched up over those watches. 1976 Listener 20 May 637/3 After all, this is what the concept of a tolerant multi-cultural, multi-racial society is all about. 1982 A. Price Old ‘Vengeful’ 247 Love and war were about winning, not fair play. 1984 A. Brookner Hotel du Lac 166 They like the feeling that they have had to fight other men for possession. That is what it is all about, really. |
8. Of a point of time: Near, nigh; close to, not far from; in giving an approximative date or hour.
| 1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud. MS.) an. 1140 Abuton non tid dæies, þa men eten. c 1230 Ancren Riwle 24 Abute swuch time alse me singeð messe. 1297 R. Glouc. 431 He deyde aboute þulke tyme. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1331 Þise lordes al and some Bene on the sonday to þe cite come Aboute prime. 1534 tr. Polyd. Verg., Eng. Hist. I. 56 Cæsar abowte the æquinoctiall time of harveste, retourned into Fraunce. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. v. i. 12 Bee you in the Parke about midnight. 1611 Bible John vii. 14 Now about the middest of the feast Jesus went vp into the Temple, and taught. 1756 Burke Vind. Nat. Soc. Wks. I. 27 About this time, another torrent of barbarians..poured out of the south. 1882 Daily News 22 Mar. 2/8 They returned to their quarters about three o'clock. |
9. Of a point in a scale of quantity: Near, close to, not much above or below; in giving an approximate weight, measure, or point on any scale.
| 1590 Shakes. Two Gent. iv. iv. 163 Sil. How tall was she? Jul. About my stature. 1768 Goldsm. Good-n. Man iii. He's much about my size and figure. Mod. Its boiling point is about 150° Fahr. About the same elevation as the top of Primrose Hill. |
¶ These two last are closely connected with the adverbial senses A 3, 4; cf. Come about six o'clock; stay about an hour; to weigh about a pound; to be about right.
II. Motion.
10. Round the outside of; round (in opposition to across, over, or into). arch. (To beat about the bush. See bush.)
| c 1000 ælfric Manual of Astronomy 8 Læssan ymbgang hæfð se man þe gæð ab{uacu}tan án h{uacu}s, þonne se ðe eall ða burh be-gæð. c 1075 O.E. Chron. (Laud. MS.) an. 1000 And his scipu wendon {uacu}t abuton Leᵹceastre. 1205 Layamon 26065 And Arður aneouste þat treo bieorn abute. a 1300 Fragm. in Wright Pop. Science 132 Hevene goth aboute the wordle. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. iv. 31 Herne the Hunter..Doth all the winter time, at still midnight Walke round about an Oake. 1655–60 T. Stanley Hist. of Philos. (1701) 86/2 He sent two Companies of Horse secretly about the Hill. 1697 W. Dampier Voyages (1729) I. 257 They could not get about the Cape. 1722 Wollaston Relig. of Nat. v. 79 The revolution of a planet about the sun. |
11. a. Round or over the parts of; in circuit over the surface of; to and fro in; across or over in any direction. Used also of the position of things scattered over the surface of anything: here and there in or on. (Shading into 2.)
| 1534 More Upon the Passion Wks. 1557, 1318/1 Do my message in preching my woorde about the worlde. 1596 Spenser F.Q. i. i. 11 That path they take, that beaten seem'd most bare, And like to lead the labyrinth about. c 1605 Ratseis Ghost B 1 Players were never so thriftie as they are now about London. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 220 In troops I haue dispers'd them 'bout the Isle. 1878 G. Macdonald Ann. Quiet Neighb. iv. 43, I was wandering about the place, making some acquaintance with it. 1879 Tennyson Lover's T. Friends..who lived scatteringly about that lonely land. Mod. The cowslips dotted about the field. |
b. Frequenting, mingling in the pursuits of; esp. in the common phrase about town.
| 1593 Nashe Foure Lett. Confuted 83 Since I first knew him about town. 1848 Thackeray Vanity F. I. 131 A perfect and celebrated ‘blood’ or dandy about town. Ibid. 192 He was not very wise; but he was a man about town, and had seen several seasons. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 153 Some Roman Catholics about the court had, indiscreetly or artfully, told all. |
C. Comb. When used as a verb-complement, about was occasionally, like separable prefixes in German, prefixed to the verb, as in about go, about run, about stand; these have sometimes been connected by hyphens, but are scarcely compounds. Also about-speech obs., a roundabout phrase, circumlocution; about-standing (cf. Germ. Umstand) obs., a circumstance; about-writing obs., the legend round the head stamped on a coin. Also about-sledge, aboutward, q.v.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 7583 Þir twa hevens ay obout-rynnes, Both day and nyght, and never blynnes; Þe erth, þat þa hevens obout-gase, Es bot als a poynt Imyddes a compase. 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. xlvi. 16 He inwardly clepide the almiȝty Lord, in aȝenfiȝting the enemys aboute stondende. 1513 Douglas Virgil's æneis i. 12 (1710) Rycht so by about-speich often tymes And semblabill wordis we compyle our rymes. 1340 Ayenb. 174 Vor he ssel zigge alle his zennes..and þe aboutestondinges of þe zennes. Ibid. 175 Ac þe aboutestondinges alle þet moreþ þe zennes. c 1449 Pecock Repr. II. ii. 140 And thei seiden, It is the ymage and the Aboute-writing of Cæsar, the Emperour. |
▪ II. about, v.1 Naut.
(əˈbaʊt)
[f. phr. about-ship see about adv. 6 b.]
To change the course (of a ship) to the other tack.
| 1688 I. Clayton Virginia Let. 4 in Phil. Trans. XVII. 984 Generally when they About the Ship as they call it, they are so nigh the Shoar, that, etc. |
▪ III. † about, v.2 Obs.
[a. Fr. abouter said of a tumour, f. à bout to a head: bouter of buds.]
| 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict., Abouting, a term used by the French gardeners to denote that the Trees are budded; as it signifies, in regard to Animals, the making a kind of a Head or Abscess. 1731 Bailey, Abouted, budded. [In Ash 1775.] |