different between circumference vs brink

English

Etymology

From Latin circumferentia, from circum (“around”) + fer? (“I carry”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: sûrk?m'fr?ns, IPA^(key): /s???k?m.f??ns/
• (US) enPR: sûrk?m'fr?ns, IPA^(key): /s???k?m.f??ns/
• Rhymes: -?ns

Noun

circumference (plural circumferences)

1. (geometry) The line that bounds a circle or other two-dimensional figure
2. (geometry) The length of such a line
3. (obsolete) The surface of a round or spherical object
4. (graph theory) The length of the longest cycle of a graph

Synonyms

• (geometry): perimeter, umstroke
• (distance measured around any object): girth
• (distance measured around a race track): lap

Related terms

• diameter
• radius
• perimeter

Translations

Verb

circumference (third-person singular simple present circumferences, present participle circumferencing, simple past and past participle circumferenced)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To include in a circular space; to bound.

English

Etymology

Middle English brinke, from Old Norse *brenka, brinka, from Proto-Germanic *brinkaz (“hill, edge (of land)”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?ren- (“project”). Cognate with Dutch brink (“grassland”), dialectal German Brunkel, Icelandic brekka (“slope”); also Tocharian B prenke (“island”), Irish braine (“prow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b???k/
• Rhymes: -??k

Noun

brink (plural brinks)

1. The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge.

   the brink of a river

2. (figuratively) The edge or border

   the brink of success

   He's on the brink of madness.

Derived terms

• brinkmanship
• on the brink

Translations

Further reading

• brink in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• brink in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch brinc, from Old Dutch brink, from Proto-Germanic *brinkaz.

Cognate with English brink.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /br??k/
• Hyphenation: brink
• Rhymes: -??k

Noun

brink m (plural brinken, diminutive brinkje n)

1. village green, functioning as a central square
2. edge or margin of a field
3. edge or margin of a hill
4. grassy edge or margin of a strip of land
5. grassland

Derived terms

• brinkdorp

Middle English

Noun

brink

1. Alternative form of brinke