circumspection

English

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English circumspeccioun, from Middle French circonspection or its etymon Latin circumspectio. By surface analysis, circum- +‎ Latin spect +‎ -ion, "looking [all] around" (as compared with the opposite concept, embodied as tunnel vision or blinders).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌsɜːkəmˈspɛkʃən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌsɚkəmˈspɛkʃən/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

circumspection (countable and uncountable, plural circumspections)

1. Attention to all the facts and circumstances of a case; consideration of all that is pertinent.
2. Caution, watchfulness, or vigilance fueled by such awareness.
   • 1989 January, Werner Winter, “On a new claim concerning substratum influence upon Tocharian”, in Central Asiatic Journal‎, volume 33, number 1/2, Harrassowitz Verlag, →ISSN, page 128:

     As if this were not enough, CAW has failed to utilize even his limited sources with diligence and circumspection; to demonstrate this point, I will briefly note inadequacies in the data adduced by CAW.

Translations

attention to all the facts and circumstances

Bulgarian: предпазливост (bg) (predpazlivost) Czech: obezřetnost (cs) f French: circonspection (fr) f Galician: circunspección (gl) f Hungarian: körültekintés (hu) Italian: circospezione (it) f Portuguese: circunspeção f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: оба̀зриво̄ст f Roman: obàzrivōst (sh) f Swedish: försiktighet (sv) c, förtänksamhet (sv) c, varsamhet (sv) c

References

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “circumspection”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “circumspection”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Middle English

Noun

circumspection

1. (Late Middle English) alternative form of circumspeccioun