ambages

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English ambages, from Old French ambages (modern French ambages), from Latin ambāges, from ambi- + agere (“to drive”). === Pronunciation === (UK) IPA(key): /ˈam.bɪ.d͡ʒɪz/ === Noun === ambages pl (plural only) (archaic) Indirect or roundabout ways of talking; circumlocution. (archaic) Indirect or roundabout routes or directions. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ambiguous ==== Translations ==== == French == === Pronunciation === === Noun === ambages plural of ambage == Latin == === Alternative forms === ambāgō === Etymology === From ambi- (“around”) +‎ agō (“to behave, proceed”) +‎ -ēs (noun-forming suffix). === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [amˈbaː.ɡeːs] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [amˈbaː.d͡ʒes] === Noun === ambāgēs f (genitive ambāgis); third declension an indirect, roundabout path; a wandering to and fro, twists and turns Used to denote any intricate or tortuous process, system or scheme (of discourse or behavior) circumlocution, ambiguity, evasion, digression, beating about the bush a mental uncertainty or confusion ==== Declension ==== Third-declension noun. ==== Related terms ==== ambigō ambiguus ==== Descendants ==== Catalan: ambages Corsican: ambacu Old French: ambages French: ambages → English: ambages Galician: ambaxes Italian: ambage → Polish: ambaje (learned) Portuguese: ambages Spanish: ambages === References === “ambāgēs” on page 125 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012) === Further reading === “ambages”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “ambages”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers "ambages", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887) “ambages”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette. Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎[1], London: Macmillan and Co. == Old French == === Etymology === Circa 1355, borrowed from Latin ambāges. === Noun === ambages m pl circumlocution, ambages (indirect or roundabout ways of talking) ==== Descendants ==== → English: ambages French: ambages == Spanish == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin ambāges. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /amˈbaxes/ [ãmˈba.xes] Rhymes: -axes Syllabification: am‧ba‧ges === Noun === ambages m pl (plural only) circumlocution, ambages (indirect or roundabout ways of talking) Synonyms: circunlocución, circunloquios (rare) ambages (indirect or roundabout routes or directions) Synonym: rodeos ==== Derived terms ==== === Further reading === “ambages”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025