Kilo Lingo

/otuʁ/

Line drawing of autour
Coloured illustration of autour
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Translation

around

Word origin

From the phrase a tour, from the preposition a (from Latin ad) plus tour ('a turn'), from Latin tornus ('a lathe, a turn'). It means 'around'.

Origin
Latin
Root
ad + tornus
English cognates
tour, turn

Examples

.

There were people all around us in the square.

l' .

The children danced around the Christmas tree singing.

.

Look around you before crossing the road.

.

There is a pretty stone wall around the garden.

.

The Earth orbits the Sun in one year.

est un adverbe de lieu qui s'emploie seul ou dans la locution prepositionnelle autour de. Autour de + nom indique ce qui entoure quelque chose : autour de la maison (around the house), autour de cinq heures (around five o'clock). Cette derniere construction est aussi temporelle.

Tout autour (all around) renforce l'idee d'encerclement complet. Tourner autour du pot (to beat around the bush) est une expression figuree frequente. Autour de peut aussi indiquer une approximation numerique : autour de vingt personnes (around twenty people).

Where this fits

Used in

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French · Free printables

autour: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the French word "autour" (around): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 15.