Meaning

adverb in the area or vicinity

adverb by a circular or circuitous route

adverb used of movement to or among many different places or in no particular direction

originFrom Middle English around, arounde, from a- (from Old English a- (“on, at”)) + Middle English round (“circle, round”) borrowed from French, equivalent to a- + round. Cognate with Scots aroond, aroon (“around”). Displaced earlier Middle English umbe, embe (“around”) (from Old English ymbe (“around”)).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0