Meanings
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of compass
comparative more compassing · superlative most compassing
plural compassings
- datedThe forming of plots or schemes; machination.
1 more example
If this proposition needed a reply, it would be sufficient to point to what we have already shown. But take the external circumstances surrounding the case, and they discover that inward intention of the prisoner. His deliberate compassings, the nature and character of the act done, the deliberation shown in preparing for the deed, the state and condition of his mind at the time—all these show express malice.
1878, Texas. Court of Appeals, Alexander Melvorne Jackson, Cases Argued and Adjudged in the Court of Appeals of the State of Texas
Origin
- Middle Englishcompassynge
- Englishcompassing
From Middle English compassynge; equivalent to compass + -ing.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
compassing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compassing
“compassing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compassing. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “compassing,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/compassing.
Source: compassing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.