about

Alternative forms

 * abowt; a.,  ab.,*  abt.

Etymology
Preposition and adverb from, , from , , from , itself from. Cognate with 🇨🇬.

Adjective from.

Preposition

 * 1) In a circle around; all round; on every side of; on the outside of.
 * 2) * 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Proverbs, iii, 3
 * Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
 * 1) Over or upon different parts of; through or over in various directions; here and there in; to and fro in; throughout.
 * 2)  See about to.
 * 3)  On the point or verge of.
 * 4) Concerning; with regard to; on account of; on the subject of; to affect.
 * 5) * 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
 * Well, let’s not talk about yesterday.
 * 1) Concerned with; engaged in; intent on.
 * 2) * 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Luke, ii, 49
 * And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?
 * 1) * 2013 March 14, , season 5, episode 16, Bailout:
 * RON: And I’ll have the number 8.
 * WAITER: That’s a party platter, it serves 12 people.
 * RON: I know what I’m about, son.
 * 1) Within or in the immediate neighborhood of; in contiguity or proximity to; near, as to place.
 * 2) On one’s person; nearby the person.
 * 3)  In or near, as in mental faculties or  in the possession of; under the control of; at one's command; in one's makeup.
 * 1) * 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
 * Well, let’s not talk about yesterday.
 * 1) Concerned with; engaged in; intent on.
 * 2) * 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Luke, ii, 49
 * And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?
 * 1) * 2013 March 14, , season 5, episode 16, Bailout:
 * RON: And I’ll have the number 8.
 * WAITER: That’s a party platter, it serves 12 people.
 * RON: I know what I’m about, son.
 * 1) Within or in the immediate neighborhood of; in contiguity or proximity to; near, as to place.
 * 2) On one’s person; nearby the person.
 * 3)  In or near, as in mental faculties or  in the possession of; under the control of; at one's command; in one's makeup.
 * 1) * 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Luke, ii, 49
 * And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?
 * 1) * 2013 March 14, , season 5, episode 16, Bailout:
 * RON: And I’ll have the number 8.
 * WAITER: That’s a party platter, it serves 12 people.
 * RON: I know what I’m about, son.
 * 1) Within or in the immediate neighborhood of; in contiguity or proximity to; near, as to place.
 * 2) On one’s person; nearby the person.
 * 3)  In or near, as in mental faculties or  in the possession of; under the control of; at one's command; in one's makeup.
 * 1) On one’s person; nearby the person.
 * 2)  In or near, as in mental faculties or  in the possession of; under the control of; at one's command; in one's makeup.
 * 1) On one’s person; nearby the person.
 * 2)  In or near, as in mental faculties or  in the possession of; under the control of; at one's command; in one's makeup.
 * 1)  In or near, as in mental faculties or  in the possession of; under the control of; at one's command; in one's makeup.
 * 1)  In or near, as in mental faculties or  in the possession of; under the control of; at one's command; in one's makeup.

Usage notes

 * In modern English, always followed by an infinitive that begins with to ("I am about to bathe"); see about to. In the past, it was possible to instead follow the about with the present participle ("I am about swimming"), but this format is no longer used or widely understood.
 * Used as a function word to indicate what is dealt with as the object of thought, feeling, or action.

Translations

 * Arabic:
 * Egyptian Arabic: حولين
 * Armenian:
 * Azerbaijani:, ətrafında
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin: ,
 * Czech: ,
 * Danish:, , rundt om
 * Dutch:, , ,
 * Esperanto:
 * Finnish:
 * French:
 * Georgian: გარშემო
 * German: um... (herum)
 * Greek: γύρω από
 * Ancient: περί (+ acc.), ἀμφί (+ dat.)
 * Hebrew:
 * Indonesian: ,
 * Irish: timpeall, um
 * Italian: ,
 * Japanese:, , ,
 * Kurdish:
 * Northern Kurdish:
 * Kyrgyz:, ,
 * Latvian: apkārt
 * Macedonian: околу
 * Maltese: madwar
 * Mòcheno: um
 * Northern Sami: birra
 * Norwegian: ,
 * Old English: ymb
 * Persian:
 * Polish:, ,
 * Portuguese: ao redor de, nas redondezas de
 * Romanian: în jurul + genitive
 * Russian:, ,
 * Scots: aboot
 * Scottish Gaelic: mun cuairt, mu chuairt
 * Serbo-Croatian: ,
 * Cyrillic: о̏ко
 * Roman:
 * Slovak: okolo
 * Slovene: okoli, okrog
 * Sorbian:
 * Lower Sorbian: wokoło
 * Spanish: de,
 * Swedish:, ,
 * Turkish: etrafında, çevresinde,
 * Ukrainian: навкруги
 * Zulu: nga- + locative


 * Azerbaijani: ətrafında
 * Danish:, rundt om
 * Dutch:
 * Esperanto:, ĉirkaŭe en,
 * Finnish:, ; paikkeilla, vaiheilla
 * French: ,
 * German:
 * Hebrew: ,
 * Kurdish:
 * Northern Kurdish:
 * Latvian:, apkārt
 * Macedonian: наоколу
 * Norwegian:
 * Polish:
 * Portuguese:
 * Russian:
 * Scottish Gaelic: mun cuairt, mu chuairt
 * Serbo-Croatian:
 * Slovak: okolo
 * Spanish: encima de
 * Swedish:, runt om
 * Turkish: tarafta ; etrafında, çevresinde, ;
 * Ute: (Chemehuevi)


 * Asturian: a puntu de
 * Catalan: a punt de
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Danish:, på vej til
 * Dutch: op het punt staan
 * Esperanto:
 * Finnish:, ,
 * French: sur le point
 * Galician:
 * German: bereit zu
 * Hebrew:
 * Hindi: -नेवाला
 * Indonesian: ,
 * Irish: ar tí
 * Italian:
 * Japanese:
 * Kurdish:
 * Northern Kurdish:
 * Latin: futurus sum, iturus sum
 * Latvian: tūlīt, tūliņ, tikpat kā
 * Macedonian: само што не, штотуку не
 * Norwegian: på veg til
 * Portuguese: prestes a
 * Russian:
 * Slovene:
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish: på väg att
 * Vietnamese:


 * Albanian:
 * Arabic:
 * Egyptian Arabic: عن
 * Armenian:
 * Asturian:
 * Azerbaijani:, barədə
 * Bashkir: тураһында, хаҡында, турала
 * Basque:
 * Belarusian: пра, аб
 * Bengali: ,
 * Bulgarian:
 * Catalan: ,
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin: ,
 * Czech:
 * Danish:, , angående
 * Dutch:, in verband met
 * Esperanto:
 * Finnish: ; olla kyse, olla kysymys
 * French:, , ,
 * Galician:, ,
 * Georgian: -ზე
 * German:
 * Greek: ,
 * Ancient: περί
 * Hebrew:, על אודות,
 * Hindi: के बारे
 * Hungarian: ,
 * Icelandic:
 * Ido:
 * Indonesian:
 * Italian:
 * Japanese: について
 * Khmer: ,
 * Korean: ~에 대한, ~에 대해, ~에 관한, ~에 관해
 * Lao: ກ່ຽວກັບ
 * Latin:
 * Latvian:
 * Lithuanian:
 * Luxembourgish:
 * Macedonian: за, околу
 * Malay:
 * Jawi: تنتڠ, مڠناءي, برکاءيتن دڠن, برکناءن دڠن, دريحال
 * Rumi:, mengenai, berkaitan dengan, berkenaan dengan, darihal
 * Malayalam: ,
 * Maltese: dwar
 * Mongolian:
 * Ngazidja Comorian: uhusu
 * Northern Sami: birra
 * Norwegian:, angående
 * Occitan:
 * Old English: be
 * Persian:, راجع به, در مورد,
 * Polish:
 * Portuguese: ,
 * Romanian:
 * Russian:, (+ prepositional case),  (+ accusative case),  (+ genitive case)
 * Scottish Gaelic: mu dheidhinn
 * Serbo-Croatian:, о, u vezi s
 * Slovak:
 * Slovene:
 * Sorbian:
 * Lower Sorbian: wó
 * Spanish:, ,
 * Swahili: kuhusu
 * Swedish: ,
 * Tagalog: tungkol sa
 * Talysh: ,
 * Tamil:
 * Thai: ,
 * Tibetan: སྐོར, དབང་དུ་ཤོར་ན
 * Turkish: (+ genitive pronouns, but no endings on nouns),
 * Ukrainian:
 * Urdu: بارے میں, متعلق, بابت, در بارہ, باب میں, در باب, سلسلہ,, نسبت, مورد
 * Uzbek:
 * Vietnamese:
 * Volapük:
 * Welsh:
 * Yiddish:
 * Zulu: nga-


 * Arabic:
 * Egyptian Arabic: عن
 * Armenian:
 * Assamese: -অৰ কথা, -অৰ বিষয়ে
 * Asturian:
 * Basque:
 * Catalan:
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin: ,
 * Danish:
 * Dutch:, ,
 * Esperanto:
 * Finnish:
 * French: ,
 * Galician: ,
 * Georgian:
 * German: ,
 * Hebrew:
 * Hindi: के बारे में
 * Ido:
 * Indonesian: ,
 * Italian:, ,
 * Japanese: に関して, について
 * Khmer: ,
 * Kurdish:
 * Northern Kurdish:
 * Latin: ,
 * Latvian:
 * Macedonian: за, околу
 * Maltese: dwar
 * Norwegian:
 * Pennsylvania German: deswegge, dewegge
 * Persian:
 * Portuguese: preocupado/lidando com
 * Russian: ,
 * Scottish Gaelic: mu dheidhinn
 * Slovene:
 * Spanish: ,
 * Swahili: kuhusu
 * Swedish:
 * Ukrainian:
 * Urdu: کے بارے میں


 * Armenian:
 * Azerbaijani:, yaxınlığında
 * Danish:
 * Dutch:, , in de buurt
 * Esperanto:, (2, on one’s person)
 * Finnish:, läheisyydessä,
 * French: aux environs de
 * Hebrew: באזור, בסביבת
 * Hindi: के बग़ल में, के पास, के नज़दीक
 * Ido:
 * Irish: i dtrátha
 * Italian:
 * Kurdish:
 * Northern Kurdish:
 * Latvian:
 * Macedonian: близу
 * Maori:, tata ki te ...., āwhiwhi ki te ...
 * Norwegian:
 * Persian: در اطراف
 * Polish:
 * Portuguese:
 * Romanian:
 * Russian:, ,
 * Scottish Gaelic: mun cuairt, mu chuairt
 * Slovak: pri
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish:
 * Ukrainian: поряд,
 * Zulu: nga- + locative


 * Azerbaijani:
 * Bashkir: янында
 * Danish:
 * Dutch:, in de buurt van
 * Finnish: ,
 * Russian: ,
 * Slovak: pri


 * Finnish:
 * Portuguese:


 * Albanian:, , , ,
 * Bengali:, ,
 * Indonesian:, , , ,
 * Interlingua: ,
 * Kurdish:
 * Northern Kurdish:, , ,
 * Lithuanian: ,
 * Telugu: ,
 * Vietnamese:, , , , , , , , , , ,
 * Volapük:


 * Arabic: حَوَالِي
 * Egyptian Arabic: حوالي
 * Armenian:
 * Azerbaijani: təxminən, təqribən, hardasa
 * Bashkir: тирәһе, самаһы
 * Belarusian: з
 * Burmese:
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Czech: ,
 * Danish:, ,
 * Dutch:, ,
 * Esperanto:
 * Finnish:, ,
 * French:, ,
 * German: ,
 * Greek:
 * Hebrew: בְּעֵרֶךְ,
 * Ido:
 * Indonesian:
 * Italian: vicino a
 * Japanese: ,
 * Khmer: ,
 * Korean:, ,
 * Kurdish:
 * Northern Kurdish:, ,
 * Kyrgyz:
 * Latin: circiter
 * Macedonian: приближно, околу
 * Maori:
 * Ngazidja Comorian: upara
 * Norwegian:
 * Persian:
 * Polish: ,
 * Portuguese: por volta de, perto de
 * Scottish Gaelic: mu, mu chuairt air
 * Slovak: okolo
 * Slovene: okoli
 * Spanish: ,
 * Swedish:, ,
 * Turkish:

Adverb

 * 1) On all sides; around.
 * 2) Here and there; around; in one place and another; up and down.
 * 3) From one place or position to another in succession;.
 * 4) * 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, 1 Timothy, v,13,
 * And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.
 * 1) Nearly; approximately; with close correspondence in quality, manner, degree, quantity, or time; almost.
 * 2) * 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Matthew, xx, 3,
 * And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace
 * 1) * 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Exodus, ix, 18
 * Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now.
 * 1) * 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Exodus, xxxii,28:
 * And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.
 * 1) Near; in the vicinity.
 * 2) To a reversed order; half round; facing in the opposite direction; from a contrary point of view.
 * 3)  To the opposite tack: see.
 * 4)  In succession; one after another; in the course of events.
 * 5) * 1818, James Hogg, published in The Scots Magazine, Vol. 86, p. 218, "On the Life and Writings of James Hogg" [Quoted in the OED]
 * When he had finished, he drew his plaid around his head, and went slowly down to the little dell, where he used every day to offer up his morning and evening prayers, and where we have often sat together on Sabbath afternoons, reading verse about with our children in the Bible.
 * 1)  In circuit; circularly; by a circuitous way; around the outside; in circumference.
 * And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace
 * 1) * 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Exodus, ix, 18
 * Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now.
 * 1) * 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Exodus, xxxii,28:
 * And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.
 * 1) Near; in the vicinity.
 * 2) To a reversed order; half round; facing in the opposite direction; from a contrary point of view.
 * 3)  To the opposite tack: see.
 * 4)  In succession; one after another; in the course of events.
 * 5) * 1818, James Hogg, published in The Scots Magazine, Vol. 86, p. 218, "On the Life and Writings of James Hogg" [Quoted in the OED]
 * When he had finished, he drew his plaid around his head, and went slowly down to the little dell, where he used every day to offer up his morning and evening prayers, and where we have often sat together on Sabbath afternoons, reading verse about with our children in the Bible.
 * 1)  In circuit; circularly; by a circuitous way; around the outside; in circumference.
 * 1)  To the opposite tack: see.
 * 2)  In succession; one after another; in the course of events.
 * 3) * 1818, James Hogg, published in The Scots Magazine, Vol. 86, p. 218, "On the Life and Writings of James Hogg" [Quoted in the OED]
 * When he had finished, he drew his plaid around his head, and went slowly down to the little dell, where he used every day to offer up his morning and evening prayers, and where we have often sat together on Sabbath afternoons, reading verse about with our children in the Bible.
 * 1)  In circuit; circularly; by a circuitous way; around the outside; in circumference.
 * 1)  In circuit; circularly; by a circuitous way; around the outside; in circumference.

Synonyms

 * around

Translations

 * Danish:
 * Dutch:
 * Esperanto: ĉirkaŭe
 * Finnish:, , ympärille
 * Greek:
 * Hebrew: מסביב
 * Irish: thart
 * Kyrgyz:
 * Macedonian: наоколу
 * Norwegian:
 * Polish:, ,
 * Portuguese: ao redor, em volta
 * Russian:
 * Scottish Gaelic: mun cuairt, mu chuairt
 * Slovene: okrog
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish:
 * Ukrainian: навколо


 * Danish:
 * Dutch: rond-
 * Esperanto: ĉirkaŭe
 * Finnish:
 * Ido:
 * Irish: thart
 * Italian:
 * Korean: ,
 * Macedonian: ваму-таму
 * Polish:, , ,
 * Portuguese: por aí
 * Russian: ,
 * Scottish Gaelic: mun cuairt, mu chuairt
 * Serbo-Croatian:, tu i tamo
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish:


 * Arabic: حَوَالِي
 * Egyptian Arabic: حوالي
 * Armenian:, , ,
 * Belarusian: прыблі́зна, блі́зка
 * Bulgarian: ,
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Czech: ,
 * Danish:, ,
 * Dutch:, ,
 * Esperanto: proksimume,
 * Finnish:, ,
 * French:
 * Georgian:
 * German: ,
 * Greek:
 * Hebrew: בערך
 * Hindi:
 * Hungarian:
 * Icelandic: næstum því
 * Ido: ,
 * Japanese:, ,
 * Khmer:
 * Korean:, , ,
 * Latin: circiter
 * Latvian: aptuveni, apmēram
 * Lithuanian:
 * Macedonian: речиси
 * Malayalam:
 * Maori:
 * Mari:
 * Eastern Mari: иктаж
 * Mongolian:
 * Norwegian:
 * Odia:
 * Old English: hūhwega, nēah
 * Plautdietsch: onjefäa
 * Polish:, ,
 * Portuguese:, ,
 * Romanian:
 * Russian:, , ,
 * Serbo-Croatian:, ,
 * Slovak: asi, približne
 * Slovene: približno, okoli
 * Spanish:
 * Swahili: kadiri ya
 * Swedish: ,
 * Tamil:
 * Thai:
 * Turkish:
 * Ukrainian: прибли́зно, ,
 * Vietnamese:, , ,


 * Dutch: ,
 * Finnish:
 * Old English: nēah
 * Serbo-Croatian:
 * Spanish:


 * Danish:
 * Dutch:, in tegenovergestelde richting
 * Esperanto: returnen
 * Finnish:
 * Korean:
 * Macedonian: о́братно
 * Old English: wiþersīnes
 * Polish:
 * Russian:
 * Slovene:


 * Dutch:
 * Finnish: toiselle halssille


 * Dutch: ,
 * Finnish:, ,
 * Russian:


 * Danish: i omkreds
 * Dutch:
 * Esperanto: ĉirkaŭe
 * Finnish:
 * Greek:
 * Hebrew: מסביב
 * Ido:
 * Korean: 둥글게
 * Macedonian: околу
 * Norwegian:
 * Polish: wkoło
 * Portuguese: ao redor
 * Russian:
 * Scottish Gaelic: mun cuairt, mu chuairt
 * Spanish:
 * Swedish:


 * Albanian:, , , ,
 * Indonesian:, , , , ,  , ,
 * Vietnamese:, , , , , , ,


 * Finnish:

Adjective

 * 1) Moving around; astir.
 * 2) In existence; being in evidence; apparent.
 * 3) * 2006, Great Britain Parliament: House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, Energy: Meeting With Malcolm Wicks MP,
 * Is not this sudden interest in capturing CO2 — and it has been about for a little while — simply another hidey-hole for the government to creep into?
 * 1) Near; in the vicinity or neighbourhood.
 * 1) * 2006, Great Britain Parliament: House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, Energy: Meeting With Malcolm Wicks MP,
 * Is not this sudden interest in capturing CO2 — and it has been about for a little while — simply another hidey-hole for the government to creep into?
 * 1) Near; in the vicinity or neighbourhood.
 * 1) * 2006, Great Britain Parliament: House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, Energy: Meeting With Malcolm Wicks MP,
 * Is not this sudden interest in capturing CO2 — and it has been about for a little while — simply another hidey-hole for the government to creep into?
 * 1) Near; in the vicinity or neighbourhood.

Derived terms
See also: Category:English phrasal verbs formed with "about"

Adverb

 * 1) about around, approximately, roughly

Noun

 * 1)  the extremity of a metallic or wooden element or piece