| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| circumference |
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| SYLLABICATION: | cir·cum·fer·ence |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  s r-k m fr-ns |
| NOUN: | 1. The boundary line of a circle. 2a. The boundary line of a figure, area, or object. b. abbr. c or circ. The length of such a boundary. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Old French circonference, from Latin circumferentia, from circumfer ns, circumferent-, present participle of circumferre, to carry around : circum-, circum- + ferre, to carry; see bher-1 in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | cir·cum fer·ential (-f-r nshl) —ADJECTIVE
| | SYNONYMS: | circumference, circuit, compass, perimeter, periphery These nouns refer to a line around a closed figure or area: the circumference of the earth; followed the circuit around the park; stayed within the compass of the schoolyard; the perimeter of a rectangle; a fence around the periphery of the property.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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