round

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See also: Round and 'round

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English round, rounde, from Old Northern French röunt, röunde, rund, Old French ront, runt, rëont, rëonde ( > French rond), representing an earlier *rodond, from Latin rotundus or a Vulgar Latin form retundus (compare Italian rotondo, Provençal redon, Spanish redondo, etc.) The noun developed partly from the adjective and partly from the corresponding French noun rond. Compare the doublet rotund and rotunda.

Adjective[edit]

round (comparative rounder or more round, superlative roundest or most round)

  1. (physical) Of shape:
    1. Circular or cylindrical; having a circular cross-section in one direction.
      We sat at a round table to make conversation easier.
    2. Spherical; shaped like a ball; having a circular cross-section in more than one direction.
      The ancient Egyptian demonstrated that the Earth is round, not flat.
    3. Lacking sharp angles; having gentle curves.
      Our child's bed has round corners for safety.
    4. Plump.
      • 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 2, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN:
        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.
  2. Complete, whole, not lacking.
    The baker sold us a round dozen.
  3. (of a number) Convenient for rounding other numbers to; for example, ending in a zero.
    One hundred is a nice round number.
  4. (phonetics) Pronounced with the lips drawn together; rounded.
    • 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 421:
      "Supposing somebody sees you, with all those flowers too? Supposing somebody writes him a letter? Ooooh!" (a pure round open Tamil O.)
  5. Outspoken; plain and direct; unreserved; not mincing.
    a round answer; a round oath
  6. Finished; polished; not defective or abrupt; said of authors or their writing style.
    • 1622, Henry Peacham, The Compleat Gentleman
      In his satires Horace is quick, round, and […] pleasant.
  7. Consistent; fair; just; applied to conduct.
  8. Large in magnitude.
    • 1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, OCLC 83401042:
      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.
    • 1854, Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste: Or, Transcendental Gastronomy‎[1], page 108:
      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.
  9. (authorship, of a fictional character) Well-written and well-characterized; complex and reminiscent of a real person.
    Antonym: flat
  10. (architecture) Vaulted.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun[edit]

round (plural rounds)

  1. A circular or spherical object or part of an object.
  2. A circular or repetitious route.
    hospital rounds
    The prison guards have started their nightly rounds.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 4293071, page 257:
      Edward Churchill still attended to his work in a hopeless mechanical manner like a sleep-walker who walks safely on a well-known round. But his Roman collar galled him, his cossack stifled him, his biretta was as uncomfortable as a merry-andrew's cap and bells.
  3. A general outburst from a group of people at an event.
    The candidate got a round of applause after every sentence or two.
  4. A song that is sung by groups of people with each subset of people starting at a different time.
  6. A serving of something; a portion of something to each person in a group.
    They brought us a round of drinks about every thirty minutes.
    • 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, “Retribution”, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, OCLC 145080417, page 594:
      There is a snaky gleam in her hard grey eye, as of anticipated rounds of buttered toast, relays of hot chops, worryings and quellings of young children, sharp snappings at poor Berry, and all the other delights of her Ogress's castle.
    • 1978, “Last Summer”, in Blondes Have More Fun, performed by Rod Stewart:
      I said I did impersonations would you like to see
      Turned around to buy her one more round
  7. A single individual portion or dose of medicine.
    • 2009 May 26, Patrick Condon, "Boy with cancer, mom return home", Associated Press, printed in Austin American-Statesman, page A4:
      Daniel underwent one round of chemotherapy in February but stopped after that single treatment, citing religious beliefs.
  8. One sandwich (two full slices of bread with filling).
  9. (art) A long-bristled, circular-headed paintbrush used in oil and acrylic painting.
  10. A firearm cartridge, bullet, or any individual ammunition projectile. Originally referring to the spherical projectile ball of a smoothbore firearm. Compare round shot and solid shot.
  11. (sports) One of the specified pre-determined segments of the total time of a sport event, such as a boxing or wrestling match, during which contestants compete before being signaled to stop.
    • 2002 April 19, Scott Tobias, Fightville[2], The A.V. Club:
      And though Fightville, an MMA documentary from the directors of the fine Iraq War doc Gunner Palace, presents it more than fairly, the sight of a makeshift ring getting constructed on a Louisiana rodeo ground does little to shake the label. Nor do the shots of ringside assistants with spray bottles and rags, mopping up the blood between rounds
  12. A stage, level, set of events in a game
    1. (sports) A stage in a competition.
      qualifying rounds of the championship
    2. (sports) In some sports, e.g. golf or showjumping: one complete way around the course.
    3. (video games) A stage or level of a game.
      • 1981, Tom Hirschfeld, How to Master the Video Games, page 88:
        When the player uses one shell to complete a round within 50 seconds, it vanishes forever. At the end of two successful rounds, for instance, the player has only two shells to pick from during docking.
    4. (card games) The play after each deal.
  13. (engineering, drafting, CAD) A rounded relief or cut at an edge, especially an outside edge, added for a finished appearance and to soften sharp edges.
  14. A strip of material with a circular face that covers an edge, gap, or crevice for decorative, sanitary, or security purposes.
    All furniture in the nursery had rounds on the edges and in the crevices.
  15. (butchery) The hindquarters of a bovine.
  16. (dated) A rung, as of a ladder.
  17. A crosspiece that joins and braces the legs of a chair.
  18. A series of changes or events ending where it began; a series of like events recurring in continuance; a cycle; a periodical revolution.
    the round of the seasons    a round of pleasures
    • 1889, Mathilde Blind, “[Love in Exile. Song X.] ‘On Life’s Long Round’.”, in The Ascent of Man, London: Chatto & Windus, […], OCLC 1017374996, stanza 1, page 177:
      On life's long round by chance I found
      A dell impearled with dew,
      Where hyacinths, gushing from the ground,
      Lent to the earth heaven's native hue
      Of holy blue.
  19. A course of action or conduct performed by a number of persons in turn, or one after another, as if seated in a circle.
    • c. 1732, George Granville, Women
      Women to cards may be compar'd: we play
      A round or two; when us'd, we throw away.
    • 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], OCLC 5634253, book II (Pleasure), page 437:
      […] the Feaſt was ſerv'd; the Bowl was crown'd;
      To the King's Pleaſure went the mirthful Round: […]
  20. A series of duties or tasks which must be performed in turn, and then repeated.
    Synonym: routine
  21. A circular dance.
  22. Rotation, as in office; succession.
  23. A general discharge of firearms by a body of troops in which each soldier fires once.
  24. An assembly; a group; a circle.
    a round of politicians
  25. A brewer's vessel in which the fermentation is concluded, the yeast escaping through the bunghole.
  26. (archaic) A vessel filled, as for drinking.
  27. (nautical) A round-top.
  28. A round of beef.
Synonyms[edit]
  • (song with each subset starting at a different time): canon
  • (hindquarters of a bovine): rump
Antonyms[edit]
Hyponyms[edit]
  • (song with each subset starting at a different time): catch
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
rung of a ladder — See also translations at rung
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Preposition[edit]

round

  1. (rare in US) Alternative form of around
    I look round the room quickly to make sure it's neat.
    • 1782, William Cowper, The Progress of Error
      The serpent Error twines round human hearts.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
around — see around

Postposition[edit]

round

  1. (rare in US) Alternative form of around
    The farmer fed his cow hay all the year round.

Adverb[edit]

round (not comparable)

  1. Alternative form of around
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
around — see around

Verb[edit]

round (third-person singular simple present rounds, present participle rounding, simple past and past participle rounded)

  1. (transitive) To shape something into a curve.
    The carpenter rounded the edges of the table.
    • 1631, Francis [Bacon], “(please specify |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] VVilliam Rawley; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], OCLC 1044372886:
      Worms with many feet, which round themselves into balls, are bred chiefly under logs of timber.
    • c. 1719, Joseph Addison, Dialogues Upon the Usefulness of Ancient Medals:
      The figures on our modern medals are raised and rounded to a very great perfection.
  2. (intransitive) To become shaped into a curve.
    • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I,
      The girl's figure, he perceived, was admirably proportioned; she was evidently at the period when the angles of childhood were rounding into the promising curves of adolescence.
  3. (with "out") To finish; to complete; to fill out.
    She rounded out her education with only a single mathematics class.
  4. (intransitive) To approximate a number, especially a decimal number by the closest whole number.
    Ninety-five rounds up to one hundred.
  5. (transitive) To turn past a boundary.
    Helen watched him until he rounded the corner.
  6. (intransitive) To turn and attack someone or something (used with on).
    As a group of policemen went past him, one of them rounded on him, grabbing him by the arm.
  7. (transitive, baseball) To advance to home plate.
    And the runners round the bases on the double by Jones.
  8. (transitive) To go round, pass, go past.
    • 2011 March 2, Andy Campbell, “Celtic 1 - 0 Rangers”, in BBC‎[3]:
      Diouf rounded Zaluska near the byeline and crossed but Daniel Majstorovic headed away and Celtic eventually mopped up the danger.
  9. To encircle; to encompass.
    Synonym: surround
  10. To grow round or full; hence, to attain to fullness, completeness, or perfection.
  11. (medicine, colloquial) To do ward rounds.
  12. (obsolete, intransitive) To go round, as a guard; to make the rounds.
  13. (obsolete, intransitive) To go or turn round; to wheel about.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English rounen, from Old English rūnian (“to whisper, talk low, talk secrets, consipre, talk secretly”), from Proto-Germanic *rūnōną (“to talk secrets, whisper, decide”), *raunijaną (“to investigate, examine, prove”), from Proto-Indo-European *(e)rewə-, *(e)rwō- (“to trace, find out, look out”). Cognate with Scots roun (“to converse with in whispers, speak privately”), Middle Low German rūnen (“to whisper”), Middle Dutch ruinen (“to whisper”), German raunen (“to whisper, murmur”), Old English rūn (“whisper, secret, mystery”), Swedish röna (“to meet with, experience”). More at rune.

Verb[edit]

round (third-person singular simple present rounds, present participle rounding, simple past and past participle rounded)

  1. (intransitive, archaic or dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To speak in a low tone; whisper; speak secretly; take counsel.
  2. (transitive, archaic or dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To address or speak to in a whisper, utter in a whisper.
    • c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene i]:
      rounded in the ear
    • c. 1617, David Calderwood (quoted as saying to King James VI)
      The Bishop of Glasgow rounding in his ear, "Ye are not a wise man," […] he rounded likewise to the bishop, and said, "Wherefore brought ye me here?"
    • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], chapter I, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 54573970, partition 2, section 4, member IV:
      Tiberius the emperor […] perceiving a fellow round a dead corse in the ear, would needs know wherefore he did so […]

Etymology 3[edit]

From Middle English roun, from Old English rūn (“whisper, secret, mystery”), from Proto-Germanic *rūnō, *raunō (“a whisper, secret, secret sign”), from Proto-Indo-European *(e)rewə-, *(e)rwō- (“to trace, find out, look out”). Cognate with Scots roun, round (“a whisper, secret story”), German raunen (“to whisper, say secretly”), Swedish rön (“findings, observations, experience”).

Noun[edit]

round (plural rounds)

  1. (archaic or dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) A whisper; whispering.
  2. (archaic or dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Discourse; song.

Anagrams[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from English round.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

round m (plural rounds)

  1. (sports, chiefly boxing) round
    Synonym: tour
    • 2015, “Bonjour”, performed by Emicida ft. Féfé:
      Trop de parents qu’ont pas un rond
      Trop de casaniers qui tiendront pas un round de plus
      (please add an English translation of this quote)

Further reading[edit]

Italian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English round.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

round m (invariable)

  1. (sports) round
  2. round (session or series)

Portuguese[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from English round.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

round m (plural rounds)

  1. (martial arts) round (segment of a fight)
    Synonym: assalto
  2. (figuratively) a stage of a dispute, confrontation or other difficult endeavour

Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Unadapted borrowing from English round.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈraund/, [ˈrãũn̪d̪]

Noun[edit]

round m (plural rounds)

  1. (martial arts) round

Usage notes[edit]

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

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