circumnavigate

English

WOTD – 27 January 2009

Borrowed from Latin circumnāvigātus, perfect passive participle of circumnāvigō (“sail round something, circumnavigate”), from circum (“about, around”) + nāvigō (“sail, navigate”), from nāvis (“ship”) + agō (“do”). Surface analysis: circum- +‎ navigate.

circumnavigate (third-person singular simple present circumnavigates, present participle circumnavigating, simple past and past participle circumnavigated)

(transitive) To travel completely around somewhere or something, especially by sail.
Synonyms: compass, (obsolete) environ, go around, sail around

We circumnavigated the Mediterranean.
- 2016, Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad, Fleet, published 2017, page 50:
  On horses they circumnavigated the fields, comparing the progress of the harvest on the two halves.
(transitive) To circumvent or bypass.
Synonym: go around
- 2006, July 9, Magic month of memories‎:
  Rebel of the tournament: Saudi Arabia’s Malek Al Hawsawi, who circumnavigated Fifa’s ban on jewellery by keeping his ring in his mouth.
(intransitive, sailing) To sail around the world.
- 1992, Richard Henderson, Singlehanded Sailing, →ISBN, page 225:
  Patrick Childress, who solo circumnavigated on a Catalina 27 in 1982, stresses the value of eggs, which will keep at least six weeks if previously unrefrigerated and oiled with vegetable shortening.
- 1997, Diana Jessie, The Cruising Woman's Advisor‎, →ISBN, page 30:
  Jack and Lura Francis, both fairly tall, circumnavigated on a Westsail 32.
- 2004, March 10, “Edward Gorman”, in Van den Heede rewarded for perseverance‎:
  Chay Blyth was the first when he circumnavigated in British Steel in 292 days in 1970 in a voyage that some predicted would end in certain death.

to sail completely around something

to circumvent or bypass

to sail around the world

circumnavigate

inflection of circumnavigare:
1. second-person plural present indicative
2. second-person plural imperative

circumnavigate f pl

circumnāvigāte

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