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cir·cum·vent

(sûr′kəm-vĕnt)

tr.v. cir·cum·vent·ed, cir·cum·vent·ing, cir·cum·vents

1. To go around; bypass: circumvented the city.

2. To avoid or get around by artful maneuvering: circumvented the bureaucratic red tape.

3. To surround (an enemy, for example); enclose or entrap.

[Early Modern English, to surround (an enemy) by stratagem, overcome by craft or fraud, outwit, from Middle English, hoodwinked, from Latin circumventus, past participle of circumvenīre, to surround in a hostile manner, deceive, evade : circum-, circum- + venīre, to go, come; see g^wā- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

cir′cum·venter, cir′cum·ventor n.

cir′cum·vention n.

cir′cum·ventive adj.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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