round

Etymology 1

From Middle English round, rounde, from Old Northern French roünt, rund, Old French ront, runt, reont ( > French rond), from both Late Latin retundus and the original Latin rotundus. The noun developed partly from the adjective and partly from the corresponding French noun rond. Compare the doublets rotund and rotunda.

adj

1. (physical) Of shape:
   1. Circular or cylindrical; having a circular cross-section in one direction.
      We sat at a round table to make conversation easier.
   2. Spherical; shaped like a ball; having a circular cross-section in more than one direction.
      The ancient Egyptian demonstrated that the Earth is round, not flat.
   3. Lacking sharp angles; having gentle curves.
      Our child's bed has round corners for safety.
   4. Plump.
2. Complete, whole, not lacking.
   The baker sold us a round dozen.
3. (of a number) Convenient for rounding other numbers to; for example, ending in a zero.
   One hundred is a nice round number.
4. (phonetics) Pronounced with the lips drawn together; rounded.
   "Supposing somebody sees you, with all those flowers too? Supposing somebody writes him a letter? Ooooh!" (a pure round open Tamil O.) 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 421
5. Outspoken; plain and direct; unreserved; not mincing.
   a round answer; a round oath
   the round assertion 1867, Matthew Arnold, On the Study of Celtic Literature
6. Finished; polished; not defective or abrupt; said of authors or their writing style.
   In his satires Horace is quick, round, and […] pleasant. 1622, Henry Peacham, The Compleat Gentleman
7. Consistent; fair; just; applied to conduct.
8. Large in magnitude.
   By raising turkeys the farmers were able the more surely to pay their rents. Young girls often acquired a very sufficient dowry, and towns-folk who wished to eat them had to pay round prices for them. 1854, Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste: Or, Transcendental Gastronomy, page 108
9. (authorship, of a fictional character) Well-written and well-characterized; complex and reminiscent of a real person.
10. (architecture) Vaulted.

noun

1. A circular or spherical object or part of an object.
   All at once the sun was through, a round of dulled silver, racing slantwise through the clouds yet always staying in the same place. 1955, William Golding, The Inheritors, Faber and Faber, published 2005, page 50
2. A circular or repetitious route.
   hospital rounds
   The prison guards have started their nightly rounds.
3. A general outburst from a group of people at an event.
   The candidate got a round of applause after every sentence or two.
4. A song that is sung by groups of people with each subset of people starting at a different time.
5. A serving of something; a portion of something to each person in a group.
   They brought us a round of drinks about every thirty minutes.
   I said I did impersonations would you like to see Turned around to buy her one more round 1978, “Last Summer”, in Blondes Have More Fun, performed by Rod Stewart
6. A single individual portion or dose of medicine.
   Daniel underwent one round of chemotherapy in February but stopped after that single treatment, citing religious beliefs. 2009 May 26, Patrick Condon, "Boy with cancer, mom return home", Associated Press, printed in Austin American-Statesman, page A4
7. One sandwich (two full slices of bread with filling).
8. (art) A long-bristled, circular-headed paintbrush used in oil and acrylic painting.
9. A firearm cartridge, bullet, or any individual ammunition projectile. Originally referring to the spherical projectile ball of a smoothbore firearm. Compare round shot and solid shot.
10. (sports) One of the specified pre-determined segments of the total time of a sport event, such as a boxing or wrestling match, during which contestants compete before being signaled to stop.
    And though Fightville, an MMA documentary from the directors of the fine Iraq War doc Gunner Palace, presents it more than fairly, the sight of a makeshift ring getting constructed on a Louisiana rodeo ground does little to shake the label. Nor do the shots of ringside assistants with spray bottles and rags, mopping up the blood between rounds April 19 2002, Scott Tobias, “Fightville”, in The A.V. Club
11. A stage, level, set of events in a game
    1. (sports) A stage in a competition.
       qualifying rounds of the championship
    2. (sports) In some sports, e.g. golf or showjumping: one complete way around the course.
    3. (video games) A stage or level of a game.
       When the player uses one shell to complete a round within 50 seconds, it vanishes forever. At the end of two successful rounds, for instance, the player has only two shells to pick from during docking. 1981, Tom Hirschfeld, How to Master the Video Games, page 88
    4. (card games) The play after each deal.
12. (engineering, drafting, CAD) A rounded relief or cut at an edge, especially an outside edge, added for a finished appearance and to soften sharp edges.
13. A strip of material with a circular face that covers an edge, gap, or crevice for decorative, sanitary, or security purposes.
    All furniture in the nursery had rounds on the edges and in the crevices.
14. (butchery) The hindquarters of a bovine.
15. (dated) A rung, as of a ladder.
16. A crosspiece that joins and braces the legs of a chair.
17. A series of changes or events ending where it began; a series of like events recurring in continuance; a cycle; a periodical revolution.
    the round of the seasons    a round of pleasures
18. A course of action or conduct performed by a number of persons in turn, or one after another, as if seated in a circle.
    Women to cards may be compar'd: we play A round or two; when us'd, we throw away. c. 1732, George Granville, Women
19. A series of duties or tasks which must be performed in turn, and then repeated.
20. A circular dance.
21. Rotation, as in office; succession.
22. A general discharge of firearms by a body of troops in which each soldier fires once.
23. An assembly; a group; a circle.
    a round of politicians
24. A brewer's vessel in which the fermentation is concluded, the yeast escaping through the bunghole.
25. (archaic) A vessel filled, as for drinking.
26. (nautical) A round-top.
27. A round of beef.

prep

1. (rare in US) Alternative form of around
   I look round the room quickly to make sure it's neat.
   The serpent Error twines round human hearts. 1782, William Cowper, The Progress of Error

adv

1. Alternative form of around

verb

1. (transitive) To shape something into a curve.
   The carpenter rounded the edges of the table.
2. (intransitive) To become shaped into a curve.
3. (with "out") To finish; to complete; to fill out.
   She rounded out her education with only a single mathematics class.
4. (intransitive) To approximate a number, especially a decimal number by the closest whole number.
   Ninety-five rounds up to one hundred.
5. (transitive) To turn past a boundary.
   Helen watched him until he rounded the corner.
6. (intransitive) To turn and attack someone or something (used with on).
   As a group of policemen went past him, one of them rounded on him, grabbing him by the arm.
7. (transitive, baseball) To advance to home plate.
   And the runners round the bases on the double by Jones.
8. (transitive) To go round, pass, go past.
   Diouf rounded Zaluska near the byeline and crossed but Daniel Majstorovic headed away and Celtic eventually mopped up the danger. March 2, 2011, Andy Campbell, “Celtic 1 - 0 Rangers”, in BBC
9. To encircle; to encompass.
10. To grow round or full; hence, to attain to fullness, completeness, or perfection.
11. (medicine, colloquial) To do ward rounds.
12. (obsolete, intransitive) To go round, as a guard; to make the rounds.
13. (obsolete, intransitive) To go or turn round; to wheel about.

Etymology 2

From Middle English rounen, from Old English rūnian (“to whisper, talk low, talk secrets, consipre, talk secretly”), from Proto-Germanic *rūnōną (“to talk secrets, whisper, decide”), *raunijaną (“to investigate, examine, prove”), from Proto-Indo-European *(e)rewə-, *(e)rwō- (“to trace, find out, look out”). Cognate with Scots roun (“to converse with in whispers, speak privately”), Middle Low German rūnen (“to whisper”), Middle Dutch ruinen (“to whisper”), German raunen (“to whisper, murmur”), Old English rūn (“whisper, secret, mystery”), Swedish röna (“to meet with, experience”). More at rune.

verb

1. (intransitive, archaic or dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To speak in a low tone; whisper; speak secretly; take counsel.
2. (transitive, archaic or dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To address or speak to in a whisper, utter in a whisper.
   The Bishop of Glasgow rounding in his ear, "Ye are not a wise man," […] he rounded likewise to the bishop, and said, "Wherefore brought ye me here?" c. 1617, David Calderwood (quoted as saying to King James VI)

Etymology 3

From Middle English roun, from Old English rūn (“whisper, secret, mystery”), from Proto-Germanic *rūnō, *raunō (“a whisper, secret, secret sign”), from Proto-Indo-European *(e)rewə-, *(e)rwō- (“to trace, find out, look out”). Cognate with Scots roun, round (“a whisper, secret story”), German raunen (“to whisper, say secretly”), Swedish rön (“findings, observations, experience”).

noun

1. (archaic or dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) A whisper; whispering.
2. (archaic or dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Discourse; song.