Literary notes about thereabout (AI summary)
The term "thereabout" is used in literature to evoke a sense of approximation—often referring to the surrounding area or a vague locality rather than a precise point. In many classical and early modern texts, it accompanies descriptions of landscapes and settings to suggest an expansive, somewhat undefined region, as seen in works like Sir John Mandeville’s travel narratives, where the term is applied to describe both distant isles and nearby wildernesses [1], [2], [3]. It can also denote approximate time, as illustrated when a character’s behavior is noted "in the second watch or thereabout" [4] or when a moment is loosely timed [5]. Beyond spatial and temporal vagueness, "thereabout" appears in dialogue to casually reference nearby entities or events, such as the yeomen gathering news [6] or locals questioning someone's actions [7]. This flexible usage underscores the term’s role in creating a rich, if imprecise, contextual flavor in narrative settings across various genres.
- In that country and others thereabout there be wild geese that have two heads.
— from The Travels of Sir John Mandeville by Sir John Mandeville - Many other marvels be in that city and in the country thereabout, that were too long to tell you.
— from The Travels of Sir John Mandeville by Sir John Mandeville - And such rocks be in many places thereabout.
— from The Travels of Sir John Mandeville by Sir John Mandeville - In the second watch or thereabout, a strange-looking object came out of the inner quarters.
— from Korean folk tales : by Pang Im and Yuk Yi - When Lingave had given way to his temper some half hour, or thereabout, he grew more calm, and bethought himself that he was acting a very silly part.
— from Complete Prose Works by Walt Whitman - Keep a close watch on them therefore; and dispatch one of your comrades, the lightest of foot, to bring the news of the yeomen thereabout.”
— from Ivanhoe: A Romance by Walter Scott - And the men thereabout questioned her, and said, 'Wherefore dost thou desire to cross the river?
— from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
