ambage

English

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English ambages, from French ambage as well as its etymon Latin ambāgēs (“a roundabout or circuitous path”).^[1][2]

Noun

ambage (countable and uncountable, plural ambages)

1. (literary, often in the plural) Evasive or ambiguous language; circumlocution.
   • Puttenham, Art of Poesie

     without any long studie or tedious ambage

   • 1607, Decker, Whore of Babylon:

     Umh! y' are full of ambage.

2. (literary, often in the plural) An indirect or obscure path.

References

1. “ambage”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
2. “ambage, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ambāgēs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.baʒ/

• Audio (Lyon):

  (file)

Noun

ambage m (plural ambages)

1. (chiefly in the plural) ambage

   sans ambages ― straight from the shoulder, bluntly

Further reading

• “ambage”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Etymology

From Latin ambāgēs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /amˈba.d͡ʒe/
• Rhymes: -adʒe
• Hyphenation: am‧bà‧ge

Noun

ambage f (plural ambagi)

1. (usually in the plural) ambage

Further reading

• ambage in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

Noun

ambāge

1. ablative singular of ambāgēs