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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

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English

around

/əˈɹaʊnd/
Forming a circle or closed curve containing (something).

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    Origin

    From Middle English around, arounde, from a- (from Old English a- (“on, at”)) + Middle English round (“circle, round”) borrowed from French, equivalent to a- + round. Cognate with Scots aroond, aroon (“around”). Displaced earlier Middle English umbe, embe (“around”) (from Old English ymbe (“around”)).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englisharounde
      • inheritedOld Englishā- “on, at”
        • inheritedMiddle Englishround “circle, round”
          • derivedOld Northern Frenchrount
            • derivedOld Frenchront
    • prefixEnglisha- “Forming verbs with the sense away, up, on, out.”
      • derivedAncient Greekἀ- “not”
        • inheritedProto-Hellenic*ə-
        • derivedAncient Greekβιωτικός “of life”
        • derivedAncient Greekκαρπός “fruit”
        • derived (ultimately)Proto-Indo-European*bʰeh₂- “to speak”
      • inheritedMiddle Englisha- “of”
        • derivedMiddle Englishan “and, if”
        • inheritedOld Englishġe-
        • derivedMiddle Frencha-
        • inheritedOld Englishon “in”
        • derivedOld Frencha-
        • inheritedOld Englishā “ever, always”
      • derivedAnglo-Normana-
        • derivedOld Frenche-
      • derivedLatinab “of, off, from, away”
        • inheritedProto-Italic*ap
        • derivedAncient Greekσκοπός “watcher”
    • derivedEnglishtris- “A variant of tri- used to indicate that the component that does not take the prefix occurs three ti…”
      • borrowedAncient Greekτρῐ́ς “thrice”
      • derivedEnglishbis “Twice; showing that something is, or is to be, repeated, such as a passage of music, or an item in …”
        • learned borrowingLatinbis “twice, at two times, on two occasions”
    • surface analysisEnglishround “Circular or cylindrical; having a circular cross-section in one direction.”

    Related: Scots aroond, Middle English umbe, Old English ymbe

    Words built on it: the, all-around

    Meanings

    prep
    1. Forming a circle or closed curve containing (something).
    2. Centred upon; surrounding; regarding.
    3. Following the perimeter of a specified area and returning to the starting point.
    4. Following a path which curves near an object, with the object on the inside of the curve.
    5. Near; in the vicinity of; approximately.
    6. At or to various places within or throughout.
    adj
    1. Present in the vicinity.
    2. Alive; existing.
    adv
    1. So as to form a circle or trace a circular path, or approximation thereof.
    2. So as to surround or be near.
    3. Nearly; approximately; about.
    4. From place to place.
    5. From one state or condition to an opposite or very different one; with a metaphorical change in direction; bringing about awareness or agreement.
    6. So as to partially or completely rotate; so as to face in the opposite direction.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: around