I. adverb
Etymology: Middle English, from round (III) + about
1. : around in a circle or circular course : on all sides or in all directions : in the vicinity : nearby
rows of orange trees … contrast pleasantly with the white walls round about — Samuel Van Valkenburg & Ellsworth Huntington
2. : in an opposite direction
turned round about and stalked off
3. : in an indirect way
came round about and slowly to these conclusions
II. preposition
1. : in an encircling course about : so as to move around
danced lightly round about the maypole
2. : in a circle about : so as to surround : here and there around : in the vicinity of
took up positions in the desert round about a walled city
3. : at approximately a specified time
round about the turn of the century another science was lying in wait for the artist — Herbert Read