View full results for 'ambit' ambit , n. false false $Revision$ Pronunciation: Hear pronunciation / ˈambᵻt / Brit. Hear pronunciation / ˈæmbət / U.S. Forms: α. lME ambyte (in a late copy), 15–16 ambite, 16– ambit. β. 15–16 19– ambitus. (Show Less) Frequency (in current use): Show frequency band information Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin ambitus. Etymology: < classical Latin ambitus circuit, revolution, circumference, perimeter, edge, strip of ground round the outside of a building, area contained in a ring or perimeter, expanse, expression, phrase, in post-classical Latin also town wall, neighbourhood (10th cent.), parish boundary (11th cent.), castle wall, monastery wall (12th cent.), cloister (14th cent.) < ambīre (see ) + -tus, suffix forming verbal nouns. (1561), Spanish ambito (15th cent.), Italian ambito (a1322), all earliest in sense . The following earlier quot. probably shows the classical Latin noun in an English context: ▸ a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xix. cxxix. 1382 Ambitus [is] a space bitwene place and hous of neiȝebours, of tweye foote brode and an half, yordeyned for a wey. Compare Catalan àmbit(1561), Spanish ambito(15th cent.), Italian ambito1322), all earliest in sense .The following earlier quot. probably shows the classical Latin noun in an English context: (Show Less) < classical Latin ambitus circuit, revolution, circumference, perimeter, edge, strip of ground round the outside of a building, area contained in a ring or perimeter, expanse, expression, phrase, in post-classical Latin also town wall, neighbourhood (10th cent.), parish boundary (11th cent.), castle wall, monastery wall (12th cent.), cloister (14th cent.) < ambīre(see ) + -tus, suffix forming verbal nouns. Thesaurus » † 1. Originally: a space that is left vacant around a house, castle, town, etc. Later more generally: the precincts or grounds of a place. Frequently in plural. Obsolete. In quot. in extended use. a1525 ( Syon Additions Brethren (St. Paul's Cathedral 5) in J. Hogg (1980) III. xxxv. 77 The seyd brother schal se that ther be a lettron set in the ȝendyr corner of the ambytys for redyng of the gosbel, towarde the este. 1644 11 The City, Ambits , and Precincts of the Religious Houses of the Monks. 1691 A. Wood I. 399 The Brethren in the coll. of English Benedictines..appointing him a little cell within the ambits of their house. 1746 C. Smith v. 203 Extending themselves..to the bounds of Killure, as also the ambit and precincts of Killculebeene. 1848 H. Hallam 304 Within the verge or ambit of the king's presence. (Hide quotations) 2. Thesaurus » Categories » a. The enclosing boundary of a house, castle, town, etc.; the boundary of a district or region; the bounds, limits. Now somewhat archaic. 1597 Bp. J. King xxxii. 440 The verye ambite of their walles and turrettes. a1645 J. Philipot (1659) 161 Those that will justly denote the Ambitus and Bounds, must not think it begins at Kent-street, because it is so called of the Road-way into Kent. 1828 J. B. Moore & J. Payne I. 742 Charing-Cross being within the ambit or district of that which..is called London. 1845 H. J. Stephen II. 745 Districts lying within the parochial ambit . 1877 46 618/2 When we speak of a man living at Oxford or at Gloucester, we mean that the man is within the ambits of those respective cities. 1905 2 123 The land..is geographically within the ambit of the second defendant's estate. 1969 V. Nabokov ii. iii. 351 Most effective, in a functional sense, was the protection the architect distilled, as it were, from the ambitus of his houses. 2006 J. May 153 It'll hold good so long as Beynor remains within the ambit of Boarsden Castle. (Hide quotations) Thesaurus » Categories » b. The circumference of a circle or a circular object; the perimeter; the distance around something; (also) an arc; an orbit. Now rare and archaic. 1655 W. Oughtred Let. in S. P. Rigaud & S. J. Rigaud (1841) (modernized text) I. 83 The area of the whole circle is equal to the half ambite multiplied by the radius. 1686 J. Goad i. iii. 8 Prodigious Hailstones, whose ambit reaches five, six, seven Inches. 1713 W. Derham ii. ii. 43 [The earth's] Ambit therefore is 24930 Miles. 1753 Suppl. (at cited word) A particular enquiry concerning the Ambit or circumference of antient Rome. 1868 J. H. Nelson i. i. 20 Some have bunds or dykes only a few yards long, and will irrigate only two or three acres of land: others have an ambit of several miles. 1908 Aug. 97/2 You are wafted into the air, pass the other leg of the huge machine at the highest point of your ambit , and descend on the other side. 2002 J. N. McKean ix. 93 An astrolabe,..with the ambits of the sun and the moon marked off. (Hide quotations) Thesaurus » 3. The sphere, scope, or reach of something; the full extent. Also: a sphere or area within which something or someone is active or effective. 1649 17 The delightfull Ambits of His vertues. 1699 W. Dampier Pref. sig. A4 These three Names of Atlantick, Indian, and South Seas or Oceans, serve me for the whole Ambit of the Torrid Zone. 1859 19 Nov. 615/1 The ambit of words which a language possesses. 1882 10 Apr. 7/1 Misconception as to the ambit of this legislation. 1945 E. Waugh ii. ii. 206 They would not normally have come within Lady Rosscommon's ambit , but, living so close, the parties mingled. 1986 R. Delmar in J. Mitchell & A. Oakley 16 The sense of uselessness or awareness of grievance might be sufficient to bring someone into the ambit of women's politics. 2010 (Nexis) 25 Apr. All institutions should work within the ambit of the constitution. (Hide quotations) Back to top

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2020).