Word.ws English Dictionary

ambages

UK/ˈam.bɪ.d͡ʒɪz/

ambages noun: indirect or roundabout ways of talking; circumlocution.

Noun

ambages pl (plural only)

  1. (archaic, plural, plural-only) Indirect or roundabout ways of talking; circumlocution.
    • Thus from her cell Cumæan Sibyl sings / Ambiguous ambages, the cloyster rings / With the shrill sound thereof, in most dark strains.1632, Vicar's Virgil, (Please provide the book title or journal name)
    • 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[…].1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, page 169
  2. (archaic, plural, plural-only) Indirect or roundabout routes or directions.
    • Paris put fear into him, a city of monstrous size to which London was but a market town. Its ambages of streets bewildered.1993, Anthony Burgess, A Dead Man In Deptford

ambages meaning in Tamil

ambages in Tamil

சுரிவழி, சுற்றுவழி, இச்சொல்லினை

Origin of ambages

From Middle English ambages, from Old French ambages (modern French ambages), from Latin ambāges, from ambi- + agere (“to drive”).

Words formed from ambages

Questions about ambages

What does ambages mean?
Ambages means indirect or roundabout ways of talking; circumlocution.
What is ambages in Tamil?
Ambages in Tamil is சுரிவழி, சுற்றுவழி, இச்சொல்லினை. See Ambages meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is ambages?
Ambages is a noun.
How do you pronounce ambages?
Ambages is pronounced /ˈam.bɪ.d͡ʒɪz/ (UK).

Words near ambages in the dictionary

  1. amb
  2. amb.
  3. amba
  4. Ambae
  5. ambage
  6. ambages
  7. ambagiosity
  8. ambagious
  9. ambagiously
  10. ambagiousness
  11. ambagitory

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: ambages (page history and authors); ambages (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “ambages.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ambages. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.