Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Circumscribe

Circumscribe , transitive verb

[Latin circumscribere, -scriptum; circum + scribere to write, draw. See Soribe.]

1.
to write or engrave around. [Rare]
Thereon is circumscribed this epitaph. — Ashmole
2.
To inclose within a certain limit; to hem in; to surround; to bound; to confine; to restrain.
To circumscribe royal power. — Bancroft
3.
(Geometry) To draw a line around so as to touch at certain points without cutting. See Inscribe, 5.