circumscriptĭo, ōnis, f. [circumscribo]. *
I Prop. (acc. to circumscribo, I.), an encircling , and (concrete) a circle : ex circumscriptione excedere, Cic. Phil. 8, 8, 23.—
II (Acc. to circumscribo, II. A.) A boundary , limit , outline , contour , circuit , compass (most freq. in Cic.): terrae situm, formam, circumscriptionem, Cic. Tusc. 1, 20, 45: aeternitas, quam nulla temporis circumscriptio metiebatur, id. N. D. 1, 9, 21: corporeae forma circumscriptionis, Arn. 2, 93; 3, 135.—
2 In rhet.
α A period : verborum, Cic. Or. 61, 204: ipsa enim natura verborum quādam circumscriptione comprehendit concluditque sententiam, id. Brut. 8, 34; cf. Quint. 9, 4, 124.—
β A compendious statement , summing up , Quint. 9, 3, 91.—
γ A figure of speech , prob. the limitation of a question by the removal of a circumstance in dispute , Quint. 9, 1, 35 Halm (dub.; cf. id. 9, 4, 9).—
B (Acc. to circumscribo, II. C.) A deceiving , cheating , overreaching , defrauding (esp. in pecuniary transactions, and by judicial artifice, by pettifogging): adulescentium, Cic. Off. 3, 15, 61: praediorum proscriptiones cum mulierculis apertā circumscriptione fecisti, id. Fl. 30, 74; Sen. Ira, 3, 2, 1.—In plur., Cic. Clu. 16, 46; Sen. Ira, 2, 9, 4.—In gen., of deception , deceit , fraud , Sen. Ep. 82, 22; Tert. Pat. 5.