From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcircumscribecir‧cum‧scribe /ˈsɜːkəmskraɪb $ ˈsɜːr-/ verb [transitive] 1 formalLIMIT to limit power, rights, or abilities SYN restrict The president’s power is circumscribed by Congress and the Supreme Court.2 HM technical to draw a line around something a circle circumscribed by a squareGrammar Circumscribe is usually passive.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
circumscribe• He could hardly be more circumscribed.• Otherwise, each had separately recognized, the future was circumscribed.• Their autonomy, it is true, was carefully circumscribed.• Without ciphers and diplomatic bags, espionage and counter-espionage actions were likely to be circumscribed.• All matter in the universe is encased in a spherical shell with clearly circumscribed boundaries.• In the middle of the drawing was a circle circumscribed by a square.• The church's role was tightly circumscribed by the new government.• Travel is only one of many instances of circumscribed existence.• But they are still highly circumscribed in their authority, and wholly dependent upon their salaried employment.Origin circumscribe (1300-1400) Latin circumscribere, from circum- (CIRCUM-) + scribere “to write, draw” 