Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
CIRCUMVENT
hedge, fudge, evade, put off, circumvent, parry, elude, skirt, dodge, duck, sidestep
(verb) avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues); “He dodged the issue”; “she skirted the problem”; “They tend to evade their responsibilities”; “he evaded the questions skillfully”
outwit, overreach, outsmart, outfox, beat, circumvent
(verb) beat through cleverness and wit; “I beat the traffic”; “She outfoxed her competitors”
besiege, beleaguer, surround, hem in, circumvent
(verb) surround so as to force to give up; “The Turks besieged Vienna”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
circumvent (third-person singular simple present circumvents, present participle circumventing, simple past and past participle circumvented)
(transitive) to avoid or get around something; to bypass
(transitive) to surround or besiege
(transitive) to outwit or outsmart
Source: Wiktionary
Cir`cum*vent", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Circumvented; p. pr. vb. n. Circumventing.] Etym: [L. circumventis, p. p. of circumvenire, to come around, encompass, decieve; circum + venire to come, akin to E. come.]
Definition: To gain advantage over by arts, stratagem, or deception; to decieve; to delude; to get around. I circumvented whom I could not gain. Dryden.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
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11 May 2025
MALLET
(noun) a light drumstick with a rounded head that is used to strike such percussion instruments as chimes, kettledrums, marimbas, glockenspiels, etc.
Coffee Trivia
