noun
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scope or extent
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limits, boundary, or circumference
Etymology
Origin of ambit
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin ambitus “a going around,” equivalent to amb- ambi- + itus “a going” ( i- (stem of īre to go) + -tus suffix of verb action)
Explanation
An ambit is the area or range that someone controls or affects. The kid who's voted president of her sixth grade class is going to be thrilled, despite her relatively small ambit. The origins of ambit go back to the Latin word for "going about or going round," ambitus, and for a time, ambit literally meant "the area surrounding a building." Today, the range of a person or group's power is their ambit. For example, if a crime is committed on a college campus, the town police won't investigate if they decide that it's the ambit of the college police, or under their jurisdiction.
Vocabulary lists containing ambit
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Around and Around: Ambi
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Life of Pi
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At Reston-based government contractor Ambit Group, a pair of labradoodles named Bailey and Sadie frequently roam the halls.
From Washington Post • Jun. 14, 2016
Saurabh Mukherjea, chief executive officer for institutional equities at Ambit Capital, describes the new class of highly successful, wealthy and well-connected regional entrepreneurs as "the new kings of North India".
From Reuters • Mar. 3, 2014
"In the scramble to generate tax dollars, the government will go after soft targets," said Saurabh Mukherjea, head of equities at Ambit Capital, a Mumbai-based boutique investment bank.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2012
“Sovereign U.S. debt rating changes will feed into the high volatility that we are in,” Gaurav Mehta, a derivatives analyst at Mumbai-based brokerage Ambit Capital, said today in a telephone interview.
From BusinessWeek • Aug. 8, 2011
Ambit, am′bit, n. a circuit: a space surrounding a house or town: extent of meaning of words, &c.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
