different between surround vs embarrass

English

Etymology

From Middle English sourrounden (“to submerge, overflow”), from Middle French souronder, suronder, from Late Latin superund?, from super + und? (“to rise in waves”), from unda (“wave”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /s???a?nd/
• Rhymes: -a?nd
• Hyphenation: sur?round

Verb

surround (third-person singular simple present surrounds, present participle surrounding, simple past and past participle surrounded)

1. (transitive) To encircle something or simultaneously extend in all directions.
   • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 230c.

     and this way they get rid of those grand and stubborn opinions that surround them.

2. (transitive) To enclose or confine something on all sides so as to prevent escape.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To pass around; to travel about; to circumnavigate.
   • 1650, Thomas Fuller, A Pisgah-Sight of Palestine

     the body of that worthy patriarch […] should steal into that country in a clandestine way, and privately enter in at the postern door; rather let it solemnly surround the country

Synonyms

• bebay
• beleaguer
• beset

Translations

Noun

surround (plural surrounds)

1. (Britain) Anything, such as a fence or border, that surrounds something.
   • 1972, Frederick Forsyth, The Odessa File, Viking, SBN 670-52042-x, chapter 15, page 283:

     He drifted through the room, avoiding the furniture by instinct, closed the door that led to the passage, and only then flicked on his flashlight.

     It swept around the room, picking out a desk, a telephone, a wall of bookshelves, and a deep armchair, and finally settled on a handsome fireplace with a large surround of red brick.

Derived terms

• surround sound

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French embarrasser (“to block, to obstruct”), from Spanish embarazar, from Portuguese embaraçar, from em- (“in”) (from Latin im-) + baraço (“noose, rope”), the latter ultimately being from Akkadian ???? (KEŠDA /rak?su/, “to tie”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?bæ.??s/
• (Mary–marry–merry merger) IPA^(key): /?m?b???s/
• Rhymes: -ær?s

Verb

embarrass (third-person singular simple present embarrasses, present participle embarrassing, simple past and past participle embarrassed)

1. (transitive) to humiliate; to disrupt somebody's composure or comfort with acting publicly or freely; to disconcert; to abash

2. (transitive) To hinder from liberty of movement; to impede; to obstruct.
3. (transitive) To involve in difficulties concerning money matters; to encumber with debt; to beset with urgent claims or demands.

Synonyms

• (humiliate): abash, discomfit, disconcert, humiliate, shame
• See also Thesaurus:abash

Derived terms

• embarrassment

Translations

Further reading

• embarrass in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• embarrass in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• “embarrass”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

References

• “embarrass” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.