Part 252

Cir`cum*e*soph"a*gal (?), a. [Pref. circum- + esophagal.] (Anat.) Surrounding the esophagus; -- in Zo÷l. said of the nerve commissures and ganglia of arthropods and mollusks.

Cir`cum*e`so*phag"e*al (?), a. (Anat.) Circumesophagal.

Cir"cum*fer (?), v. t. [L. circumferre; circum- + ferre to bear. See 1st Bear.] To bear or carry round. [Obs.] Bacon.

Cir*cum"fer*ence (?), n. [L. circumferentia.]

1. The line that goes round or encompasses a circular figure; a periphery. Millon.

2. A circle; anything circular.

His ponderous shield . . . Behind him cast. The broad circumference Hung on his shoulders like the moon. Milton.

3. The external surface of a sphere, or of any orbicular body.

Cir*cum"fer*ence, v. t. To include in a circular space; to bound. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

Cir*cum`fer*en"tial (?), a. [LL. circumferentialis.] Pertaining to the circumference; encompassing; encircling; circuitous. Parkhurst.

Cir*cum`fer*en"tial*ly (?), adv. So as to surround or encircle.

Cir*cum`fer*en"tor (?), n. [See Circumfer.]

1. A surveying instrument, for taking horizontal angles and bearings; a surveyor's compass. It consists of a compass whose needle plays over a circle graduated to 360░, and of a horizontal brass bar at the ends of which are standards with narrow slits for sighting, supported on a tripod by a ball and socket joint.

2. A graduated wheel for measuring tires; a tire circle.

Cir"cum*flant (?), a. [L. circumflans, p. pr. of circumflare.] Blowing around. [Obs.] Evelyn.

Cir"cum*flect (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Circumflected; p. pr. & vb. n. Circumflecting.] [L. circumflectere. See Circumflex.] 1. To bend around.

2. To mark with the circumflex accent, as a vowel. [R.]

Cir`cum*flec"tion (?), n. See Circumflexion.

Cir"cum*flex (?), n. [L. circumflexus a bending round, fr. circumflectere, circumflexum, to bend or turn about; circum + flectere to bend. See Flexible.]

1. A wave of the voice embracing both a rise and fall or a fall and a rise on the same a syllable. Walker.

2. A character, or accent, denoting in Greek a rise and of the voice on the same long syllable, marked thus [~ or &?;]; and in Latin and some other languages, denoting a long and contracted syllable, marked [&?; or ^]. See Accent, n., 2.

Cir"cum*flex, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Circumflexed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Circumflexing (?).] To mark or pronounce with a circumflex. Walker.

Cir"cum*flex, a. [Cf. L. circumflexus, p. p.]

1. Moving or turning round; circuitous. [R.] Swift.

2. (Anat.) Curved circularly; -- applied to several arteries of the hip and thigh, to arteries, veins, and a nerve of the shoulder, and to other parts.

Cir`cum*flex"ion (?), n. 1. The act of bending, or causing to assume a curved form.

2. A winding about; a turning; a circuity; a fold.

Cir*cum"flu*ence (?), n. A flowing round on all sides; an inclosing with a fluid.