encompass

to include

TRANSLATION

encompass = umfassen --- GOOGLE INDEX encompass: approximately 25,000,000 Google hits

STATISTICS

IN THE PRESS

Although firmly rooted in flamenco, the arrangements ENCOMPASS a wider musical world, from classical to jazz, bitter-sweet Portuguese to upbeat calypso.

(BBC News)

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As the earth spins through space, a view from above the North Pole would ENCOMPASS most of the wealth of the world - most of its food, productive machines, doctors, engineers and teachers. A view from the opposite pole would encompass most of the world's poor.

- Barry Commoner, American eco-socialist

Did you
know?

encompass
verb

- to include, especially different types of things

(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

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Encompass is from "en," meaning "to make, put in" and compass, which refers to "space, area, extent, circumference." Compass stems the Old French compas, "circle, radius, pair of compasses," which gave us the name for the mathematical instrument ,which is a V-shaped device used to draw circles or measuring distances on maps.

The mariners directional tool is also called a compass, perhaps because it is round and has a point like a mathematical compass. A compass is also a device for finding direction which has a needle that can move easily and that always points to magnetic north.

Finally, compass is used figuratively in the sense of "direction" and is frequently used in conjunction with moral, such as this quote from US president Barack Obama:

"If we are to win this struggle and spread those freedoms, we must keep our own moral compass pointed in a true direction."

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SYNONYMS

comprise, cover, embody, embrace, have, hold, incorporate, involve, take in

--
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation

"I chose a career that encompasses a wide range of tasks and responsibilities."

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