Standard Lemma guide

thereabouts

adv · noun · 9 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ðɛəɹəˈbaʊts/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈðɛəɹəbaʊts/
  • General-American: /ˈðɛɹəˌbaʊts/
  • General-American: /ˌðɛɹəˈbaʊts/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: DH EH2 R AH0 B AW1 T S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adv

Meaning 1

Synonym of thereabout:

About or near that place.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adv

Meaning 2

Synonym of thereabout:

About or around that date or time.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adv

Meaning 3

Synonym of thereabout:

About or near to that condition or quality.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adv

Meaning 4

Synonym of thereabout:

Approximately that number or quantity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adv

Meaning 5

Synonym of thereabout:

About that; concerning that.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adv

Meaning 6

Synonym of thereabout:

Near to that activity or situation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, not-comparable, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

Location; whereabouts.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: plural, plural-only

Qualifier: possibly erroneous

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

adverb

Meaning 8

near that place

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he stayed in London or thereabouts for several weeks

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: thereabout

Antonyms: none provided

9

adverb

Meaning 9

near that time or date

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • come at noon or thereabouts

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: thereabout

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

The adverb is derived from Middle English there-aboutes, þare aboutes (“of a place or an object: around there, in its vicinity; of time: about then, around that time”) [and other forms], from ther (“in that place, in those places, there; on that; thither, to that place; from there, thence; at that time; thereupon; in that situation, under those circumstances; in that case, with regard to that”) (from Old English þǣr (“there”)) + aboutes (“in all directions, around”, adverb), aboutes (“in all directions from, on all sides of; near; concerned with”, preposition) (from aboute, abouten (“so as to surround; so as to cover; on the border or edge; as measured around the outside; to as to travel around something; so as to revolve about an axis or centre; aside; in all directions; in the vicinity; in connection with something; in several places; everywhere, throughout; to all or everyone; almost, approximately; concerning; in succession; so as to be or happen”, adverb), aboute, abouten (“surrounding; covering; over; upon; on the border of; in all directions; in the vicinity of, near to; in several places; everywhere, throughout; almost, approximately; concerning; engaged in; on behalf of”, preposition) (from Old English abūtan, onbūtan (“about; round about; on; on the outside”)) + -s (suffix forming adverbs)); see further at thereabout. The English word is analysable as thereabout + -s (suffix forming adverbs). The noun may result from a confusion of thereabouts with whereabouts. The word is attested later than thereabout.