What does "circumambulation" mean?

The act of walking around something in a circle, especially for a ritual purpose.

How do you pronounce "circumambulation"?

Pronounced //ˌsɝ.kəmˌæm.bjuˈleɪ.ʃən//.

Common synonyms include: circling, circuitry, circularity, circulation, circumlocution, deviation.

//ˌsɝ.kəmˌæm.bjuˈleɪ.ʃən// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The act of walking around something in a circle, especially for a ritual purpose.

From circum- + ambulation, borrowed from Latin circumambulātiō.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.