Where does “circumspection” come from?
Circumspection comes from Old French circumspection, from Latin circumspectio, a noun derived from Latin circum meaning "around" and the root speḱ- meaning "to observe or look."
circumspection (English): Attention to all the facts and circumstances of a...
Definitions
- Attention to all the facts and circumstances of a...
Ancestry of “circumspection”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | circumspeccioun | Circumspection, diligence, carefulness |
| 2 | French | circonspection | circumspection |
| 3 | Latin | circumspectiō | looking around |
| 4 | Latin | -tiō | tion, -ation, -ing |
| 5 | Latin | dissertātiō | (spoken) dissertation, discourse, disquisition |
| 6 | Latin | dissertus | arranged, disposed; explained |
| 7 | Latin | disserere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 8 | Latin | dis- | asunder, apart, in two; reversal, removal;... |
| 9 | Latin | calceus | shoe |
| 10 | Latin | calx | limestone; chalk; the finish line |
| 11 | Ancient Greek | χάλιξ | small stone, pebble; gravel, rubble |