circumvallate
/ˌsəːkəmˈvaleɪt
/verb [with object]
Surround with or as if with a rampart: the walls were circumvallated with a ditch...
- The settlement is circumvallated by a stake-fence, so decayed that one may gain ingress at a dozen places.
- In short, his is not the way of the great and daunting poets who circumvallated his time.
- Unfortunately, the usability of the interface is simply too circumvallated to exploit it properly; content is more likely chanced upon than directed to.
adjective
1 literary Surrounded or surrounding as if by a rampart: circumvallate mountains...
- But, in between lengthy phrases and highly circumvallated metaphors, one finds precious gems of meaning
- In the night of the 28th 2,000 French dragoons each laden with 60 pounds of gunpowder arrived at the circumvallating walls in disguise.
2 Anatomy Denoting certain papillae near the back of the tongue, surrounded by taste receptors.Eight to 12 larger mushroom shaped (circumvallate) papillae, each surrounded by a circular trough, lie at the back of the tongue in a V-shaped formation; these have on average 250 taste buds each....
- Foliate papillae are situated on the edge of the tongue slightly anterior of the circumvallate line.
- Few days ago I saw something on TV about circumvallate papillae and ever since then I am very interested in that.
Origin
Mid 17th century (as an adjective): from Latin circumvallat- 'surrounded with a rampart', from the verb circumvallare, from circum 'around' + vallare, from vallum 'rampart'. The verb dates from the early 19th century.