Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Archaic Ambiguity. Often used in the plural.
- n. Archaic Winding ways or indirect proceedings.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A winding or roundabout way; hence.
- n. Circumlocution; equivocation; obscurity or ambiguity of speech.
- n. Circuitous or devious ways; secret acts.
Wiktionary
- n. especially in plural ambiguity; circumlocution
WordNet 3.0
- n. a style that involves indirect ways of expressing things
Etymologies
- Back-formation from Middle English ambages, equivocation, from Latin ambāges : amb-, ambi-, around; see ambi- + agere, to drive; see ag- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“[Sidenote: _Periphrasis_, or the Figure of ambage.]”
“And ye shall know that we may dissemble, I meane speake otherwise then we thinke, in earnest as well as in sport, vnder couert and darke termes, and in learned and apparant speaches, in short sentences, and by long ambage and circumstance of wordes, and finally aswell when we lye as when we tell truth.”
“Its origin is involved in obscurity: but may it not be a corruption of the Latin _ambages_, or the singular ablative _ambage_? which signifies _quibbling, subterfuge_, and that kind of conduct which is generally supposed to constitute _humbug_.”
“Ea ambage Chalcedonii monstrabantur quod priores illuc advecti, praevisa locorum utilitate pejora legissent”
History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 2
“Another cause is, for that it is briefer & more compendious, and easier to beare away and be retained in memorie, then that which is contained in multitude of words and full of tedious ambage and long periods.”
“And ye shall know that we may dissemble, I meane speake otherwise then we thinke, in earnest aswell as in sport, vnder couert and darke termes, and in learned and apparant speaches, in short sentences, and by long ambage and circumstance of wordes, and finally aswell when we lye as when we tell truth.”
“Ea ambage Chalcedonii monstrabantur quod priores illuc advecti, praevisa locorum utilitate pejora legissent Tacit.”
“& more compendious, and easier to beare away and be retained in memorie, then that which is contained in multitude of words and full of tedious ambage and long periods.”
“Intending to describe the spring of the yeare, which euery man knoweth of himselfe, hearing the day of March named: the verses be very good the figure nought worth, if it were meant in Periphrase for the matter, that is the season of the yeare which should haue bene couertly disclosed by ambage, was by and by blabbed out by naming the day of the moneth, & so the purpose of the figure disapointed, peraduenture it had bin better to haue said thus:”
“‘Obscurum verborum ambage novorum’ is rendered by Clarke, ‘Darkened with a long rabble of new words.’]”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘ambage’.
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The -ages of Man(-age)
Trivet also has this list, which you should go see. And then I found this list, and this list...
manage, salvage, selvadge, savage, voyage, umbrage, entourage, homage, carriage, marriage, language, potage and 123 more...
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Hence
Words with definitions that have a "hence" in them.
hanger, Deet, tripe, spindlelegs, fiddle, store, pluck, snap, villain, link, comedy, particular and 410 more...
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Dan: You read this already. — Your p...
Long ago, I learned a useful habit from a good friend: Every time he looked up a word in his dictionary, he’d put a mark next to it. His explanation for this was vague at best, but I understood a...
dittography, haplology, haplography, idiomology, cacoepy, orthoepist, psellism, pronunciation spe..., galbe, theropod, publican, sciolist and 111 more...
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Tawkward
Verbal 'wtf' exchanges; odd moments of conversation and socializing.
somniloquy, bafflegab, syllepsis, sesquipedalian, whinge, divulge, anacoluthon, anaphora, sumpsimus, persiflage, eristic, overtones and 198 more...
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5-0
Hecko, words! I’m so happy I’ve found you. I want to keep you all and never want to lose you again. I hope you like it here.
amscray, thistledown, tine, tinsel, pungent, snarl, wail, lanky, viscid, dawdle, luminous, stow and 2719 more...
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moving driving words
act, active, actor, actual, actuary, actuate, agendum, agent, agile, agitate, allege, ambage and 47 more...
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perhapsolutely's Words
polyradiculoneuro..., abulia, abubble, abscission, abaft, zareba, abatis, abigail, abiogenesis, ablate, ablaut, abo and 1705 more...
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Circumlocution
The use of unnecessarily wordy or indirect language.
periphrasis, cledonism, euphemism, amphilogism, equivocation, circumlocution, periphrase, ambage, hendiadys, hendiatris, tautology, overstate and 17 more...
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wordage
-age words
verbiage, decoupage, coinage, slayage, usage, carnage, damage, courage, savage, beverage, language, blockage and 82 more...
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Good to know
when I can't find just the right word for it...
remplissage, rabblement, lucifugous, remolino, grammaticaster, lucubratory, homonym, alluvial, macula, vitiate, convalescent, wamble and 13 more...
Tweets
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