different between about vs cas

English

Alternative forms

• (archaic) abowt; (abbreviation) a., (abbreviation) ab.,* (abbreviation) abt.

Pronunciation

• (US, England) IPA^(key): /?? ba?t/
• (Canada, Scotland) IPA^(key): /?? b??t/, [?? b??t], [?? bo?t]
• (Canada, Ireland, Virginia) IPA^(key): /?? b??t/
• Rhymes: -a?t
• Hyphenation: about

Etymology

Preposition and adverb from Middle English aboute, abouten, from Old English ab?tan, onb?tan, from on (“in, on”) +? b?tan (“outside of”), from be (“by”) +? ?tan (“outside”).

Adjective from Middle English about (adverb).

Preposition

about

1. In a circle around; all round; on every side of; on the outside of. [First attested prior to 1150.]

   The snake was coiled about his ankle.

   • c.1604–1605, William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well

     So look about you; know you any here?

   • 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Proverbs, iii, 3

     Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
2. Over or upon different parts of; through or over in various directions; here and there in; to and fro in; throughout. [First attested around 1150 to 1350.]

   Rubbish was strewn about the place.

   The children were running about the room.

   He was well known about town.

   • 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The history of England from the accession of James the Second

     He had been known, during several years, as a small poet; and some of the most savage lampoons which were handed about the coffeehouses were imputed to him.

3. Indicates that something will happen very soon; indicates a plan or intention to do something.
   1. (with 'to' and verb infinitive) See about to.
   2. (with present participle, obsolete or dialect) On the point or verge of.
      • 1866, A treatise on the law of suits by attachment in the United States, by Charles Daniel Drake, page 80

        [It] was held, that the latter requirement was fulfilled by an affidavit declaring that "the defendant was about leaving the State permanently."

4. Concerning; with regard to; on account of; on the subject of; to affect. [First attested around 1150 to 1350.]
   • 1671 John Milton, Samson Agonistes

     I already have made way / To some Philistian lords, with whom to treat / About thy ransom.

   • 1860, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage

     "I'll tell you what, Fanny: she must have her way about Sarah Thompson. You can see her to-morrow and tell her so."

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     Well, let’s not talk about yesterday.

   Synonyms: apropos, as for; see also Thesaurus:about

5. Concerned with; engaged in; intent on. [First attested around 1150 to 1350.]

   to be about one's business

   • 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Luke, ii, 49

     And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?

   • 2013 March 14, Parks and Recreation, season 5, episode 16, Bailout:

     RON: And I'll have the number 8.

     WAITER: That's a party platter, it serves 12 people.

     RON: I know what I'm about, son.

6. Within or in the immediate neighborhood of; in contiguity or proximity to; near, as to place. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]

   I can't find my reading glasses, but they must be somewhere about the house.

   John's in the garden, probably somewhere about the woodshed.

7. On one's person; nearby the person. [First attested around 1150 to 1350.]

   I had no weapon about me but a stick.

   • 1837, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Ernest Maltravers: Volume 1

     At this assurance the traveller rose, and approached Alice softly. He drew away her hands from her face, when she said gently, "Have you much money about you?"

     "Oh the mercenary baggage!" said the traveller to himself; and then replied aloud "Why, pretty one? Do you sell your kisses so high, then?"

8. (figuratively) In or near, as in mental faculties or (literally) in the possession of; under the control of; at one's command; in one's makeup. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
9. (Chester) in hand, in the process of doing.

Usage notes

• (Indicates that something will happen very soon): In modern English, always followed by an infinitive that begins with to ("I am about to bathe"); see about to. In the past, it was possible to instead follow the about with the present participle ("I am about swimming"), but this format is no longer used or widely understood.
• (concerning): Used as a function word to indicate what is dealt with as the object of thought, feeling, or action.

Translations

Adverb

about (not comparable)

1. On all sides; around. [First attested before 1150.]

   I looked about at the scenery that surrounded me.

   • 1599, Robert Greene, The Comical History of Alphonsus King of Aragon, III-ii,

     Why, then, I see, ‘tis time to look about, / When every boy Alphonsus dares control.

2. Here and there; around; in one place and another; up and down. [First attested before 1150.]

   Bits of old machinery were lying about.

3. From one place or position to another in succession; indicating repeated movement or activity.

   walking about;? rushing about;? jumping about;? thrashing about

   • 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, 1 Timothy, v,13,

     And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.

   • He and Gerald usually challenged the rollers in a sponson canoe when Gerald was there for the weekend; or, when Lansing came down, the two took long swims seaward or cruised about in Gerald's dory, clad in their swimming-suits; and Selwyn's youth became renewed in a manner almost ridiculous, […].

4. Indicating unproductive or unstructured activity.

   messing about;? fooling about;? loafing about

5. Nearly; approximately; with close correspondence in quality, manner, degree, quantity, or time; almost. [First attested before 1150.]
   • c.1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona

     Therefore I know she is about my height.

   • 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Matthew, xx, 3,

     And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace

   • 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Exodus, ix, 18

     Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now.

   • 1769, King James Bible, Oxford Standard text, Exodus, xxxii,28:

     And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

   • “Heavens!” exclaimed Nina, “the blue-stocking and the fogy!—and yours are pale blue, Eileen!—you’re about as self-conscious as Drina—slumping there with your hair tumbling à la Mérode! Oh, it's very picturesque, of course, but a straight spine and good grooming is better. […]”
6. Near; in the vicinity. [First attested around 1150 to 1350.]
7. To a reversed order; half round; facing in the opposite direction; from a contrary point of view. [First attested around 1150 to 1350.]
   • 1888, Horatio Alger, The Errand Boy,

     Mr. Carter, whose back had been turned, turned about and faced his niece.

   1. (nautical) To the opposite tack. [First attested in the late 15^th century.]
8. (obsolete or rare) In succession; one after another; in the course of events. [First attested before 1150.]
   • 1818, James Hogg, published in The Scots Magazine, Vol. 86, p. 218, "On the Life and Writings of James Hogg" [1] [Quoted in the OED]

     When he had finished, he drew his plaid around his head, and went slowly down to the little dell, where he used every day to offer up his morning and evening prayers, and where we have often sat together on Sabbath afternoons, reading verse about with our children in the Bible.

9. (archaic) In circuit; circularly; by a circuitous way; around the outside; in circumference. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.]
   • 1886, Duncan Keith, A history of Scotland: civil and ecclesiastical from the earliest times to the death of David I, 1153, Vol.1,

     Nothing daunted, the fleet put to sea, and after sailing about the island for some time, a landing was effected in the west of Munster.

Synonyms

• (many senses): around

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

about (not comparable)

1. Moving around; astir.
   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet,

     'John, I have observed that you are often out and about of nights, sometimes as late as half past seven or eight. […]'

2. In existence; being in evidence; apparent.
   • 2005, IDG Communications, Digit, Issues 89-94,

     Although it has been about for some time now, I like the typeface Sauna.

   • 2006, Great Britain Parliament: House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, Energy: Meeting With Malcolm Wicks MP,

     Is not this sudden interest in capturing CO₂ — and it has been about for a little while — simply another hidey-hole for the government to creep into?

3. Near; in the vicinity or neighbourhood.

   I had my keys just a minute ago, so they must be about somewhere.

   Watch out, there's a thief about.

Synonyms

• (moving around): around, active, mobile, astir
• (in existence): around

References

• about at OneLook Dictionary Search
• about in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Touba, Tuoba, U-boat

French

Noun

about m (plural abouts)

1. (technical) The extremity of a metallic or wooden element or piece.

Further reading

• “about” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• bouta, tabou

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kæ?/

Adjective

cas (comparative more cas, superlative most cas)

1. Informal abbreviation for casual

Anagrams

• A/Cs, ACS, ACs, ASC, CSA, SAC, SCA, Sac, a/cs, acs, sac

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin c?sus (“case”).

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?kas/
• Rhymes: -as

Noun

cas m (plural casos)

1. case (event, situation, or fact)

Derived terms

• fer cas
• per si de cas
• per si un cas

Further reading

• “cas” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “cas” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Drehu

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?s/

Numeral

cas

1. one

References

• Tyron, D.T., Hackman, B. (1983) Solomon Islands languages: An internal classification. Cited in: "Dehu" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.
• Leenhardt, M. (1946) Langues et dialectes de l'Austro-Mèlanèsie. Cited in: "?De’u" in Greenhill, S.J., Blust, R., & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.

French

Etymology

From Old French cas, borrowed from Latin c?sus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?/
• Rhymes: -?

Noun

cas m (plural cas)

1. case, situation
2. (medicine) case
3. (law) case

4. (grammar) case

Derived terms

Further reading

• “cas” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• ASC
• sac

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician and Old Portuguese cas (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), proclitic form of casa (“house”) in some adverbial phrases.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /?kas/

Noun

cas f (plural cas)

1. house; chez
   • 19th century, folk-song:

     Trigo limpo non o hai; se queres algún centeo, vai por el a cas meu pai

     There's no clean wheat; if you want some rye, go fetch it chez my father

Usage notes

When preceding the preposition de this proclitic form, rather than casa, is frequently used.

Derived terms

References

• “cas” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006-2012.
• “cas d” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
• “cas” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
• “cas” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “cas” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Indonesian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?t??as]
• Hyphenation: cas

Etymology 1

Unknown. Compare Malay cas.

Noun

cas (first-person possessive casku, second-person possessive casmu, third-person possessive casnya)

1. A type of hand game

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From English charge.

Verb

cas

1. (colloquial) to charge, to add energy to (a battery, or a device containing a battery).

Derived terms

Further reading

• “cas” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish cass (“curly, curly-haired”), from Proto-Celtic *kassos (“curly, twisted, woven”).

Pronunciation

• (Munster, Aran) IPA^(key): /k?s?/
• (Connemara, Mayo, Ulster) IPA^(key): /kas?/

Adjective

cas (genitive singular masculine cais, genitive singular feminine caise, plural casa, comparative caise)

1. twisted, winding; curly
2. complicated, intricate
3. twisty, devious

Declension

Verb

cas (present analytic casann, future analytic casfaidh, verbal noun casadh, past participle casta) (transitive, intransitive)

1. twist
2. turn
3. wind
4. (with ar, thar) twist, wind, wrap (something) around (something else)
5. (voice, music, idiomatic) sing, play (a song, tune)

6. return
7. (with le)
   1. reproach with
   2. attempt
8. (with ar, do, le) meet with

9. (with chuig, ag) happen to have

Conjugation

• Alternative verbal noun: castáil (Cois Fharraige)

Synonyms

• cor

Derived terms

Noun

cas m (genitive singular casta, nominative plural castaí)

1. Alternative form of casadh

Mutation

Further reading

• "cas" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• Entries containing “cas” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Entries containing “cas” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.

References

• Matasovi?, Ranko (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, ?ISBN

Lower Sorbian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *?as?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?sas/

Noun

cas m

1. time (inevitable passing of events)

Declension

Derived terms

• casnik

Further reading

• cas in Ernst Muka/Mucke (St. Petersburg and Prague 1911–28): S?ownik dolnoserbskeje r?cy a jeje nar?cow / Wörterbuch der nieder-wendischen Sprache und ihrer Dialekte. Reprinted 2008, Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag
• cas in Manfred Starosta (1999): Dolnoserbsko-nimski s?ownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch. Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag.

Middle English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French cas.

Noun

cas (plural cass)

1. case (event, happening)

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kas/

Contraction

cas

1. (colloquial) Contraction of com as.

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish cos, from Proto-Celtic *koxs?, from Proto-Indo-European *ko?s-eh?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?as/

Noun

cas f (genitive singular coise, plural casan)

1. leg
2. foot
3. handle

Usage notes

• The dative form is cois:

Derived terms

Adjective

cas (comparative caise)

1. steep

Mutation

Spanish

Etymology

Named by indigenous peoples in Costa Rica (Chibchan).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kas/, [?kas]

Noun

cas m (plural cases)

1. the fruit of a very tart species of guava

   Synonyms: guayaba de cas, guayaba de Costa Rica, guayaba agria

2. the tree that bears those fruits, Psidium friedrichsthalianum

References

• Robertiello, Jack: Guava/Xalxocotl/Aracu/Guayaba, cited in Américas, Volumes 42-44 (1990), p. 58

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ka?s/

Etymology 1

Adjective

cas (feminine singular cas, plural cas, equative cased, comparative casach, superlative casaf)

1. hateful, nasty

2. unpleasant, difficult
3. averse to

Derived terms

• cas beth
• casáu

Noun

cas m (plural casau or casoedd)

1. hatred, hatefulness

Etymology 2

Noun

cas m (plural casiau)

1. case, container

   Synonym: cynhwysydd

Etymology 3

Abbreviated form of castell (“castle”).

Noun

cas m (uncountable)

1. Used in place names.

Derived terms

• Cas-gwent (“Chepstow”)
• Casllwchwr (“Loughor”)
• Casnewydd (“Newport”)

Etymology 4

Inflected form of cael (“to have; to receive, to get”).

Verb

cas

1. third-person singular preterite of cael

Alternative forms

• cadd (poetic)
• caeth (colloquial)
• cafas (obsolete)
• cafodd

Mutation