The phrase "round about" means to encircle. It is used consistently in the 84 times it is used in the Book of Mormon. The word "round" by itself is used two times to mean a circle as in a round ball or like the moon. The usage to mean encircle can be seen in Alma 12:48 [17:33], "And those men again stood to scatter their flocks; but Ammon said unto his brethren, Encircle the flocks round about that they flee not: and I go and contend with these men who do scatter our flocks."

What this means to interpreting the geography is that the term means something that encircles or surrounds something else or something that is not in a straight line. For example, in Alma 13:69 [22:27], "Which ran from the sea east, even to the sea west, and round about on the borders of the sea-shore, and the borders of the wilderness which was on the north, by the land of Zarahemla, through the borders of Manti, by the head of the river Sidon, running from the east towards the west; and thus were the Lamanites and the Nephites divided," it is used to indicate a change in direction from the sea west northward indicating the Lamanite area of control extended along the sea west shore.