English edit

Etymology edit

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

Noun edit

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 edit

  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 edit

Etymology edit

Learned borrowing from Latin ambāgēs.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ɑ̃.baʒ/
  • (file)

Noun edit

ambage m (plural ambages)

  1. (chiefly in the plural) ambage
    sans ambagesstraight from the shoulder, bluntly

Further reading edit

Italian edit

Etymology edit

From Latin ambāgēs.

Pronunciation edit

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

Noun edit

ambage f (plural ambagi)

  1. (usually in the plural) ambage

Further reading edit

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

Latin edit

Noun edit

ambāge

  1. ablative singular of ambāgēs