ambage

Definitions


[], (Noun)

Definitions:
- Evasive or misleading language; equivocation, verbal trickery or deception. Also as a count noun: an example of this.

- Digressive or long-winded speech or writing; circumlocution; verbiage. Frequently: an example of this, a digression.

- A winding, circuitous course, way, or path; (in plural) labyrinthine ways; twists and turns. Also (and in earliest use) in figurative contexts.

- An indirect, roundabout, or involved process, practice, or proceeding; especially one which causes a delay or complication.

- A secret, mysterious, or incomprehensible act or practice. Formerly also: †a stratagem, a trick (obsolete).


Phrases:

Origin:
late Middle English; earliest use found in Geoffrey Chaucer (c1340–1400), poet and administrator. From (i) Anglo-Norman and Middle French ambage (chiefly in plural; French ambage) circumlocution, long-winded speech, circumvention, avoidance, (in plural) detours, twists and turns




definition by Oxford Dictionaries