ambages

noun /ˈam.bɪ.d͡ʒɪz/

1. Indirect or roundabout ways of talking; circumlocution.

   archaic

   Thus from her cell Cumæan Sibyl sings / Ambiguous ambages, the cloyster rings / With the shrill sound thereof, in most dark strains.

2. Indirect or roundabout routes or directions.

   archaic

   Paris put fear into him, a city of monstrous size to which London was but a market town. Its ambages of streets bewildered.

Where it comes from

From Middle English ambages, from Old French ambages (modern French ambages), from Latin ambāges, from ambi- + agere (“to drive”).

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry ambages (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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