About Meaning
About Definition & Usage
Indicating the subject or topic of something.
Examples
- "The book is about history."
- "I don't know what this movie is about."
- "We were talking about our weekend plans."
- "The article is about climate change."
- "He gave a speech about his experiences in the war."
Approximately or nearly.
Examples
- "The meeting will start at about 3 p.m."
- "The car costs about $20,000."
- "I’ve been studying for about two hours."
- "There were about twenty people at the party."
- "We arrived about ten minutes early."
Concerned or involved with something.
Examples
- "She is very about her health."
- "He is always about finding new challenges."
- "They were so about their business project that they barely slept."
- "The team is very about winning this championship."
- "We need to be about these changes right away."
Cultural Context
The word 'about' has a long history, originating from the Old French word 'aboter', which meant 'to move in a circular way' or 'to revolve'. Over time, its usage evolved to encompass meanings related to direction, approximation, and subject matter.
The Missing Piece
Story
The Missing Piece
Once upon a time, there was a young woman named Clara who had always wondered what life was truly about. She had a comfortable job, a loving family, but she still felt something was missing. One afternoon, she sat at her favorite café, sipping a coffee and thinking about her future. 'What is my purpose?' she asked herself. She thought about her friends, the books she'd read, and the dreams she'd chased. The more she thought, the more confused she became. 'Is it about wealth?' she pondered, but quickly dismissed the idea. 'Is it about helping others?' she wondered aloud. 'Perhaps it’s all about making a difference in the world.' As she walked home that evening, she noticed the sky was about to change colors, the clouds looking darker as the sun began to set. She felt an unfamiliar clarity – a realization that perhaps finding her purpose was about being open to the journey, not having a clear destination in mind. The next day, she made a decision to start volunteering at a local charity. It wasn’t about grand gestures or big changes; it was about small acts of kindness that could create ripples. She was about to embark on a new chapter in her life, one that she hoped would be as fulfilling as it was meaningful. And though she didn’t know exactly where it would lead, Clara now understood that the question was never about the destination – it was about the path she chose to walk.