circumscription

About 0.15 uses per million words.

Meaning

1. noun The act of circumscribing or the quality of being circumscribed.
2. noun Anything that circumscribes or a circumscribed area.
3. noun The definition of what does and does not belong to a given taxon, from a particular taxonomic viewpoint or taxonomic system.

   The circumscription in the APG system of the family Malvaceae includes the former families Bombacaceae, Sterculiaceae and Tiliaceae.

4. noun An electoral district; used often in texts treating electoral systems in Romance countries.

Similar words

circumscribability uncircumscription incircumscription striction uncircumscribability circumspectness limitation constrainedness restrictedness circleness

Often followed by

of and is to in by or theory as

Word family

circumscriptions