about

English

 about on Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• (archaic) abowt; (abbreviation) a., (abbreviation) ab.,* (abbreviation) abt.

Etymology

Preposition and adverb from Middle English aboute, abouten, from Old English abūtan, onbūtan, from on (“in, on”) +‎ būtan (“outside of”), from be (“by”) +‎ ūtan (“outside”).

Adjective from Middle English about (adverb).

Pronunciation

• (US, England) IPA^(key): /əˈbaʊt/

  • Audio (US)

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• (Canada, Scotland) IPA^(key): /əˈbʌʊt/, ,

  • Audio (Canada: British Columbia)

    (file)

• (Canada, Ireland, Virginia) IPA^(key): /əˈbɛʊt/
• Rhymes: -aʊt
• Hyphenation: about

Preposition

about

1. In a circle around; all round; on every side of; on the outside of.

   The snake was coiled about his ankle.

   • c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     So look about you; know you any here?

   • 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Proverbs, iii, 3

     Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

   • 1892, James Yoxall, chapter 5, in The Lonely Pyramid:

     The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. […] Roaring, leaping, pouncing, the tempest raged about the wanderers, drowning and blotting out their forms with sandy spume.

2. Over or upon different parts of; through or over in various directions; here and there in; to and fro in; throughout.

   Rubbish was strewn about the place.

   The children were running about the room.

   He was well known about town.

   • 1671, John Milton, “The First Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: J. M for John Starkey , →OCLC, page 3, lines 30–35:

     [I]n likeneſs of a Dove / The Spirit deſcended, while the Fathers voice / From Heav'n pronounc'd him his beloved Son. / That heard the Adverſary, who roving ſtill / About the world, at that aſſembly fam'd / Would not be laſt, […]

   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

     He had been known, during several years, as a small poet; and some of the most savage lampoons which were handed about the coffeehouses were imputed to him.

3. Indicates that something will happen very soon; indicates a plan or intention to do something.
   1. (with 'to' and verb infinitive) See about to.
   2. (with present participle, obsolete or dialect) On the point or verge of.
      • 1866, Charles Daniel Drake, A treatise on the law of suits by attachment in the United States, page 80:

        [It] was held, that the latter requirement was fulfilled by an affidavit declaring that "the defendant was about leaving the State permanently."

4. Concerning; with regard to; on account of; on the subject of; to affect.

   He talked a lot about his childhood.

   We must do something about this problem.

   • 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes:

     I already have made way / To some Philistian lords, with whom to treat / About thy ransom.

   • 1856, Voltaire, Philosophical dictionary:

     There have been violent quarrels about whether the whole is greater than a part.

   • 1860, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage:

     "I'll tell you what, Fanny: she must have her way about Sarah Thompson. You can see her to-morrow and tell her so."

   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.

   • 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:

     Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster.

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     Well, let’s not talk about yesterday.

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   Synonyms: apropos, as for; see also Thesaurus:about

5. Concerned with; engaged in; intent on.

   to be about one's business

   • 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Luke, ii, 49

     And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?

   • 2013 March 14, Parks and Recreation, season 5, episode 16, Bailout:

     RON: And I'll have the number 8.

     WAITER: That's a party platter, it serves 12 people.

     RON: I know what I'm about, son.

   (Chester) Have you much hay about? = Have you much in the process of making?

   (Chester) "What's Mary doin'?" "Oh ! oo's about th' butter." = "What's Mary doing?" "Oh, she's making the butter.

6. Within or in the immediate neighborhood of; in contiguity or proximity to; near, as to place.

   I can't find my reading glasses, but they must be somewhere about the house.

   John's in the garden, probably somewhere about the woodshed.

7. On one's person; nearby the person.

   I had no weapon about me but a stick.

   • 1837, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], Ernest Maltravers , volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, , →OCLC, book I, page 16:

     At this assurance the traveller rose, and approached Alice softly. He drew away her hands from her face, when she said gently, "Have you much money about you?" / "Oh the mercenary baggage!" said the traveller to himself; and then replied aloud, "Why, pretty one?—Do you sell your kisses so high, then?"

8. (figurative) In or near, as in mental faculties or (literally) in the possession of; under the control of; at one's command; in one's makeup.

   He has his wits about him.

   There was an air of confidence about the woman.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. […] A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes. […] But withal there was a perceptible acumen about the man which was puzzling in the extreme.

Usage notes

• (Indicates that something will happen very soon): In modern English, always followed by an infinitive that begins with to ("I am about to bathe"); see about to. In the past, it was possible to instead follow the about with the present participle ("I am about swimming"), but this format is no longer used or widely understood.
• (concerning): Used as a function word to indicate what is dealt with as the object of thought, feeling, or action.

Translations

Adverb

about (not comparable)

1. On all sides; around.

   I looked about at the scenery that surrounded me.

   • 1599, Robert Greene, The Comical History of Alphonsus King of Aragon, III-ii:

     Why, then, I see, ‘tis time to look about, / When every boy Alphonsus dares control.

2. Here and there; around; in one place and another; up and down.

   Bits of old machinery were lying about.

3. From one place or position to another in succession; indicating repeated movement or activity.

   walking about;  rushing about;  jumping about;  thrashing about

   • 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, 1 Timothy, v,13,

     And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.

   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     He and Gerald usually challenged the rollers in a sponson canoe when Gerald was there for the weekend; or, when Lansing came down, the two took long swims seaward or cruised about in Gerald's dory, clad in their swimming-suits; and Selwyn's youth became renewed in a manner almost ridiculous, […].

4. Indicating unproductive or unstructured activity.

   messing about;  fooling about;  loafing about

5. Nearly; approximately; with close correspondence in quality, manner, degree, quantity, or time; almost.

   It's about as cold as it was last winter.

   He owes me about three hundred dollars.

   Dinner's about ready.

   I was so scared, I about fainted.

   • c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):

     Therefore I know she is about my height.

   • 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Matthew, xx, 3,

     And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace

   • 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Exodus, ix, 18

     Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now.

   • 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Exodus, xxxii,28:

     And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     “Heavens!” exclaimed Nina, “the blue-stocking and the fogy!—and yours are pale blue, Eileen!—you’re about as self-conscious as Drina—slumping there with your hair tumbling à la Mérode! Oh, it's very picturesque, of course, but a straight spine and good grooming is better. […]”

   • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

     I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.

   • 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

     [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria,  […] .

6. Near; in the vicinity.
7. To a reversed order; half round; facing in the opposite direction; from a contrary point of view.

   to face about;  to turn oneself about

   • 1888, Horatio Alger, The Errand Boy:

     Mr. Carter, whose back had been turned, turned about and faced his niece.

   1. (nautical) To the opposite tack: see go about.

      We went about and headed offshore.

8. (obsolete or rare) In succession; one after another; in the course of events.
   • 1818, James Hogg, published in The Scots Magazine, Vol. 86, p. 218, "On the Life and Writings of James Hogg"

     When he had finished, he drew his plaid around his head, and went slowly down to the little dell, where he used every day to offer up his morning and evening prayers, and where we have often sat together on Sabbath afternoons, reading verse about with our children in the Bible.

9. (archaic) In circuit; circularly; by a circuitous way; around the outside; in circumference.

   a mile about, and a third of a mile across

   • 1886, Duncan Keith, A history of Scotland: civil and ecclesiastical from the earliest times to the death of David I, 1153, volume 1:

     Nothing daunted, the fleet put to sea, and after sailing about the island for some time, a landing was effected in the west of Munster.

Synonyms

• (many senses): around

Translations

Adjective

about (not comparable)

1. Moving around; astir.

   out and about;  up and about

   After my bout with Guillan-Barre Syndrome, it took me 6 months to be up and about again.

   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, “Chapter 3”, in Moonfleet, London, Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934:

     'John, I have observed that you are often out and about of nights, sometimes as late as half past seven or eight. […]'

2. In existence; being in evidence; apparent.

   This idea has been about for a while but has only recently become fashionable.

   • 1975, IPC Building & Contract Journals Ltd, Highways & road construction, volume 43:

     To my mind, transportation engineering is similar to flying in the 1930s — it has been about for some time but it has taken the present economic jolt to shake it out of its infancy, in the same way that the war started the development of flying to its current stage.

   • 2005, IDG Communications, Digit, numbers 89-94:

     Although it has been about for some time now, I like the typeface Sauna.

   • 2006, Great Britain Parliament: House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, Energy: Meeting With Malcolm Wicks MP,

     Is not this sudden interest in capturing CO₂ — and it has been about for a little while — simply another hidey-hole for the government to creep into?

3. Near; in the vicinity or neighbourhood.

   I had my keys just a minute ago, so they must be about somewhere.

   Watch out, there's a thief about.

Synonyms

• (moving around): around, active, mobile, astir
• (in existence): around

Derived terms

See also: Category:English phrasal verbs with particle (about)

References

• “about”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “about”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Touba, Tuoba, U-boat

Finnish

Alternative forms

• öbaut

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English about

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈøbɑut/,
• IPA^(key): /ˈəbɑu̯t/,
• IPA^(key): /ˈɑbɑut/,

Adverb

about (slang)

1. about (around, approximately, roughly)

   Synonyms: noin, suunnilleen

French

Noun

about m (plural abouts)

1. (technical) the extremity of a metallic or wooden element or piece

Further reading

• “about”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Anagrams

• bouta, tabou