Ambages

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈambɪd͡ʒɪz/

Origin

From Old French ambages (French ambages), from Latin ambāges, from ambi- + agere ("to drive").

Full definition of ambages

Noun

1. Indirect or roundabout ways of talking; circumlocution.
• 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, Book I, New York 2001, p. 169:Having thus briefly anatomized the body and soul of man, ... I may now freely proceed to treat of my intended subject , to most men's capacity; and after many ambages, perspicuously define what this melancholy is ....
2. Indirect or roundabout routes or directions.
• 1993, Anthony Burgess, A Dead Man In Deptford:Paris put fear into him, a city of monstrous size to which London was but a market town. Its ambages of streets bewildered.