round
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɹaʊnd/
ipa: /ɹuːnd/
ipa: /ˈɹaʊnd/
rhymes: -aʊnd
Forms: form: rounder
form: more round
form: roundest
form: most round
form: around
form: ron
Etymology: From Middle English round, rounde, from Old Northern French roünt, rund, Old French ront, runt, reont ( > French rond), from both Late Latin retundus and the original Latin rotundus. The noun developed partly from the adjective and partly from the corresponding French noun rond. Doublet of rotund.
Senses: examples: text: We sat at a round table to make conversation easier.
text: The flowers glowed red and golden: snapdragons and sunflowers, and nasturtians^([sic]) trailing all over the turf walls and peeping in at the round windows.
ref: 1954 July 29, J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “A Long-Expected Party”, in The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings, London: George Allen & Unwin, →OCLC:
glosses: Of shape:
Circular or cylindrical; having a circular cross-section in one direction.
examples: text: The ancient Egyptian demonstrated that the Earth is round, not flat.
glosses: Of shape:
Spherical; shaped like a ball; having a circular cross-section in more than one direction.
examples: text: a round face, a round belly
text: If I close my eyes I can see Marie today as I saw her then. Round, rosy face, snub nose, dark hair piled up in a chignon.
ref: 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 2, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN:
glosses: Of shape:
Loosely or approximately circular.
examples: text: Our child's bed has round corners for safety.
glosses: Of shape:
Lacking sharp angles; having gentle curves.
examples: text: He was tall and thin but his wife was short and round.
glosses: Of shape:
Plump.
examples: text: The baker sold us a round dozen.
text: Round was their pace at first, but slackened soon: / A stranger meeting them had surely thought, / They rode so slowly and they look'd so pale, / That each had suffer'd some exceeding wrong.
ref: 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Enid”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 47:
glosses: Complete, whole, not lacking.
examples: text: One hundred is a nice round number.
glosses: Convenient for rounding other numbers to; for example, ending in a zero.
raw_tags: of a number
examples: text: "Supposing somebody sees you, with all those flowers too? Supposing somebody writes him a letter? Ooooh!" (a pure round open Tamil O.)
ref: 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 421:
topics: human-sciences
linguistics
phonetics
phonology
sciences
glosses: Pronounced with the lips drawn together; rounded.
examples: text: a round answer; a round oath
text: the round assertion
ref: 1867, Matthew Arnold, On the Study of Celtic Literature:
text: Sir Toby, I muſt be round with you.
ref: c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 261, column 2:
text: Well, she must be plain with him, round with him, while she must not betray her child.
ref: 1925, Stanley John Weyman, “XXXVI Home”, in Queen's Folly:
glosses: Outspoken; plain and direct; unreserved; not mincing words.
examples: text: In his satires Horace is quick, round, and […] pleasant.
ref: 1622, Henry Peacham, The Compleat Gentleman:
glosses: Finished; polished; not defective or abrupt; said of authors or their writing style.
examples: text: Round dealing is the honour of man's nature.
ref: 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Truth”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
glosses: Consistent; fair; just; applied to conduct.
examples: text: I have a good banker in this city, but I would not wish to draw upon the house until the time when I shall draw for a round sum.
ref: 1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC:
text: By raising turkeys the farmers were able the more surely to pay their rents. Young girls often acquired a very sufficient dowry, and towns-folk who wished to eat them had to pay round prices for them.
ref: 1854, Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste: Or, Transcendental Gastronomy, page 108:
glosses: Large in magnitude.
topics: authorship
broadcasting
communications
film
journalism
literature
media
publishing
television
writing
antonyms: flat
glosses: Well-written and well-characterized; complex and reminiscent of a real person.
raw_tags: of a fictional character
topics: architecture
glosses: Vaulted.
examples: text: round trip, round journey, round walk
glosses: Returning to its starting point.
Synonyms: sense: circular
word: circular
sense: circular
word: cylindrical
sense: circular
word: discoid
sense: spherical
word: spherical
sense: of corners that lack sharp angles
word: rounded
sense: plump
word: plump
sense: plump
word: rotund
sense: not lacking
word: complete
sense: not lacking
word: entire
sense: not lacking
word: whole
sense: of a number
word: rounded
sense: pronounced with the lips drawn together
word: rounded
Derived terms: all-round
Boston round bottle
English round hand
half-round
roundabout
round angle
round-bottomed flask
round bracket
round character
round clam
round dance
round dozen
round-ear
round-eared tube-nosed bat
rounded vowel
round-eyed
round file
round game
round-headed bush clover
round heart disease
round-heeled
round herring
round house
round iron
Round Lake Beach
round ligament
round-like
round lime
round-lobed hepatica
round lot
round-mouthed
round number
Round Oak
round-ridge
round robin
round s
round ship
round table
round the clock
round-top
round trip
round tuit
round turn
round window
round-wound
square peg in a round hole
squround
Related terms: Acton Round