roundaboutnessn.

1810 R. Southey in C. C. Southey Life & Corr. R. Southey (1850) III. 274 The vice of the Friend is its roundaboutness.

1828 M. R. Mitford Our Village III. 34 Woody lanes, which wind along from farm to farm..meandering with such a surprising round-about-ness.

1891 Athenæum 18 Apr. 505/2 Coleridge replies in a letter intensely characteristic in its roundaboutness.

1932 J. A. Larson Lying & its Detection iii. 17 It is too much to ask that..roundaboutness should be set aside in the courtroom where circumstances make straight talking even more difficult.

1987 P. Wolfe Corridors of Deceit i. 13 ‘If you catch a lion, you must first tether the goat,’ reflects the roundaboutness..with which Mossad..goes after its quarry.

2002 D. H. Green Beginnings Medieval Romance v. 102 The narrative is..circuitous, its principle is krümbe, roundaboutness.

1891 W. Smart tr. E. von Böhm-Bawerk Positive Theory Capital i. vi. 66 The consequence then is—and it is here that the ‘roundaboutness’ [Ger. Umweg]..comes in—that, after the product is technically finished, it must be conveyed to the place where it is demanded.

1908 H. J. Davenport Value & Distribution xiv. 207 Increasing roundaboutness necessitates or implies the fact of diminishing returns.

1970 World Politics 22 490 One of the hallmarks of the development process is growing complexity, roundaboutness, and interdependence in the production of goods and services.

2005 A. J. Cohen & G. C. Harcourt in C. Bliss et al. Capital Theory I. Introd. p. xxxv Further extensions of roundaboutness (building a boat, better nets, etc.) by the fisherman or by capital goods firms, would further increase productivity, but at a diminishing rate.