Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CIRCUMNAVIGATE
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pronounce
CIRCUMNAVIGATE:
Say it "SIR come NAV ih gate."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
As we check out the hilariously long word circumnavigate, see if you can recall two related verbs:
1. With Latin roots meaning "to come around," the word circum____ means "to find a way around something: to avoid it, often in a smart or sneaky way." (Hint: this one is related to the words event and adventure.)
2. With Latin roots meaning "to walk or move around," the word circum________ means "to walk around something, or to walk around something in words: to talk around and around the point instead of getting straight to it." (Hint: this one is related to the words amble and ambulance).
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
"Navigating" is finding your way around. Getting where you want to go. Although we often talk about navigating a new city, or navigating a new situation, the word "navigate," with Latin bits meaning "to drive a ship," originally meant just that: to steer a ship, to sail a vessel.
And so, to circumnavigate, in its most literal sense, is to sail around something. Sailors might circumnavigate an island, a continent, or the entire globe.
Less literally, to circumnavigate something is to go all the way around it, as if you're a sailor on some grand exploratory mission.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Verb, the transitive kind: "Ferdinand Magellan often gets credit for being first to circumnavigate the globe. He actually died halfway around, though."
Other forms:
The other verb forms are "circumnavigated" and "circumnavigating."
The noun for the idea or activity is "circumnavigation," and the people are "circumnavigator(s)."
Things can be "circumnavigable" (able to be sailed around) or "circumnavigatory" (having something to do with sailing around).
Not all dictionaries recognize this one, but you can "semi-circumnavigate" something: sail partway around it.
While we're at it, let's say you can "hemi-demi-semi-circumnavigate" things: sail a teeny bit of the way around them. Why not?
how to use it:
This word is formal and semi-common word. If you can say it without laughing, you're more mature than me! It strikes me as a ridiculous word, so I love it.
You might use it literally to talk about contemporary travel or historical explorers. "She's on a cruise ship circumnavigating Australia."
Or, you might use it less literally to strike a precise, scientific tone, either in earnest or tongue-in-cheek. "He's on the phone, circumnavigating the kitchen island."
Feel free to get figurative. Here are Julius and Augustus Hare: "The business of Philosophy is to circumnavigate human nature."
These days, although some writers have used "circumnavigate" to mean "dodge, avoid, or get around," I suggest sticking with the more precise word "circumvent" in those cases. Unless, of course, you need the extra syllables to sound silly. In which case, I heartily endorse your sesquipedalian selection.
examples:
"The coroner coughed twice, dryly, and circumnavigated his examination table."
— David Guterson, Snow Falling on Cedars, 1994
"In principle, such a journey... would permit us to circumnavigate the known universe in some fifty-six years ship time. We would return tens of billions of years in our future-- to find the Earth a charred cinder and the Sun dead."
— Carl Sagan, Cosmos, 1980
has this page helped you understand "circumnavigate"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "circumnavigate" without saying "circle around" or "skirt."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "Diligently, like an explorer, I circumnavigate (some store, some facility, some room in your home, or the room at a party or other social event), (looking for something or trying to accomplish something)."
Example: "Diligently, like an explorer, I circumnavigate the teeming shelves at T. J. Maxx, looking for the discount moisturizer that the Internet promised."
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game this month is Oddball Recall!
Given some abbreviated definitions and a few letters, try to recall some of the kookiest terms we've studied. To see the answers, scroll all the way down.
Try this set today: That Had a Kind of Poetry To It.
1. Knickknacks: br_c-a-br_c.
2. Like it or not: no___s vo___s.
3. Pulpit-slapping: t_b-th___ery.
4. Itsy-bitsy bit: h__i-d__i-s__i.
5. Strategy of ducking punches: ro__-a-do__.
review this word:
A. SQUARE OFF.
B. TRIM THE SURFACE OF.
C. CUT STRAIGHT ACROSS.
2.
When Amelia Earhart disappeared in her plane, she was attempting to circumnavigate _____.
A. the globe
B. her fuel supply
C. ice on her wings
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
On vocabulary...
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.
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A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
As we check out the hilariously long word circumnavigate, see if you can recall two related verbs:
"Navigating" is finding your way around. Getting where you want to go. Although we often talk about navigating a new city, or navigating a new situation, the word "navigate," with Latin bits meaning "to drive a ship," originally meant just that: to steer a ship, to sail a vessel.
Part of speech:
This word is formal and semi-common word. If you can say it without laughing, you're more mature than me! It strikes me as a ridiculous word, so I love it.
"The coroner coughed twice, dryly, and circumnavigated his examination table."
Explain the meaning of "circumnavigate" without saying "circle around" or "skirt."
Fill in the blanks: "Diligently, like an explorer, I circumnavigate (some store, some facility, some room in your home, or the room at a party or other social event), (looking for something or trying to accomplish something)."
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. |