circumference
pronunciation
How to pronounce circumference in British English:
UK [səˈkʌmfərəns]
How to pronounce circumference in American English:
US [sərˈkʌmfərəns]
-
- Noun:
- the size of something as given by the distance around it
- the length of the closed curve of a circle
Word Origin
- circumference (n.)
- late 14c., from Latin circumferentia, neuter plural of circumferens, present participle of circumferre "to lead around, take around, carry around," from circum "around" (see circum-) + ferre "to carry" (see infer). A loan-translation of Greek periphereia "periphery, the line round a circular body," literally "a carrying round" (see periphery). Related: Circumferential.
Example
- 1. That number includes only islands with a circumference of at least 100 meters , or yards .
- 2. When would I ever need to compute the circumference of a circle ?
- 3. The area was once enclosed by a city wall that was 10m high and five kilometres in circumference , built in 1555 and torn down in 1911 .
- 4. He then estimated the distance between the two locations and multiplied by 50 to derive the circumference .
- 5. The physics of the small requires big machines : the lhc is a ring with a circumference of 27km ( 17 miles ) .