surround
pronunciation
How to pronounce surround in British English:
UK [səˈraʊnd]
How to pronounce surround in American English:
US [səˈraʊnd]
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- Noun:
- the area in which something exists or lives
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- Verb:
- be around
- extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle
- envelop completely
- surround so as to force to give up
- surround with a wall in order to fortify
Word Origin
- surround
- surround: [15] Although surround means ‘exist round’ something, it has no etymological connection with round. It comes via Old French suronder from late Latin superundāre ‘overflow’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix super- ‘over’ and undāre ‘rise in waves’, a derivative of unda ‘wave’ (source of English undulate).English took the word over in its original sense, and this survived into the 17th century (an Act of Parliament of 1609 noted that ‘the sea hath broken in … and hath decayed, surrounded, and drowned up much hard ground’). The modern sense ‘exist round, encircle’ arose in the early 17th century, presumably by association with round.=> abundant, redundant, sound, undulate
- surround (v.)
- early 15c., "to flood, overflow," from Anglo-French surounder, Middle French soronder "to overflow, abound; surpass, dominate," from Late Latin superundare "overflow," from Latin super "over" (see super-) + undare "to flow in waves," from unda "wave" (see water (n.1); and compare abound). Sense of "to shut in on all sides" first recorded 1610s, influenced by figurative meaning in French of "dominate," and by sound association with round, which also influenced the spelling of the English word from 17c. Related: Surrounded; surrounding.
Example
- 1. Such people surround themselves with positive , loving support .
- 2. However , the risks that surround the essential capital flows would be lessened .
- 3. The dark black waters of the baltic surround us , occasionally reflecting the sharp , bright blue of the sky overhead .
- 4. Wang is working on a polymer film that would surround his power-generating fibers and allow them to be implanted into our bodies .
- 5. This approach has been successful in animals : mice have been bred whose white blood cells can rapidly surround and destroy injected cancer cells .