circumstance (1, 4 the commoner S. senses)
1.
attendant
fact or ‘adjunct’ of an action: e.g.
time, place, manner, &c. amid which it takes
place
Meas. IV. ii. 108
“neither in time,
matter, or other ,”
Tw.N. III. iv. 90, V. i. 261, 1H6 III. i. 152, Ham. III. ii. 81; pl.
R3 III. vii. 175
“All circumstances well
considered,”
Lucr. 1262.
2.
adjuncts of a fact
which are evidence one way or another
Wint. V. ii. 34
“Most true, if ever
truth were pregnant by ,”
Ham. II. ii. 157,
Oth. III. iii. 407
“strong circumstances,
Which lead directly to the door of
truth”
; circumstantial evidence
R3 I. ii. 77
“Of these supposed
evils, to give me leave, By
circumstance, but to acquit
myself.”
3.
condition, state of
affairs Gent. I. i. 37
(quibblingly),
Ham. I. iii. 102
“Unsifted in such
perilous ”
4.
detailed and (hence)
circuitous narration or discourse; (hence, collect.
sing. and pl.) details, particulars Gent. III. ii. 36,
Err. V. i. 16
“With and
oaths,”
Ado III. ii. 105*
“c-s shortened,”
Mer.V. I. i. 155
“To wind about my love
with ,”
AYL. V. iv. 100
“with ”
(=indirectly), Shr. IV. ii.
120, Rom. II. v. 36,
V. iii. 181
“without ”
(=without further details), Ham. V. ii. 2, Cym. II. iv. 61;
detailed proof or inference Gent. I. i. 36, 84
5.
ceremony, formality
Shr. V. i. 28,
Wint. V. i. 90
“his approach So out of
circumstance”
(=unceremonious),
Ham. I. v. 127
“without more at
all,”
Oth. III. iii. 355
“Pride, pomp, and of
glorious war”
(=ceremonious ostentation).
6.
subordinate or
secondary matter Oth. III. iii.
16; “by c-(s),”
as a mere contingency, by accident Wint. III. ii. 18, 2H6 V. ii. 39.
