circus

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See also: Circus

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circus (“ring, circle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-, *ker- (“to turn, to bend”). Doublet of cirque. Displaced native Old English hringsetl (literally “ring seat”).

Pronunciation

Noun

circus (plural circuses or (rare) circusses or (rare) circi)

  1. A traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, and other novelty acts, that gives shows usually in a circular tent.
    The circus will be in town next week.
  2. A round open space in a town or city where multiple streets meet.
    Oxford Circus in London is at the north end of Regent Street.
  3. (figurative) A spectacle; a noisy fuss; a chaotic and/or crowded place.
    • 2009, Christine Brooks, A Quiet Village, page 81:
      The village would be turned into a circus over this. He groaned, it was just the sort of case the media had a field day over. He had to get the whole thing sorted fast before anyone got wind of it.
  4. (historical) In the ancient Roman Empire, a building for chariot racing.
  5. (military, World War II) A code name for bomber attacks with fighter escorts in the day time. The attacks were against short-range targets with the intention of occupying enemy fighters and keeping their fighter units in the area concerned.
  6. (obsolete) Circuit; space; enclosure.
    • 1817, Lord Byron, The Lament of Tasso:
      The narrow circus of my dungeon wall.

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

circus (third-person singular simple present circuses or circusses, present participle circusing or circussing, simple past and past participle circused or circussed)

  1. To take part in a circus; or to be displayed as if in a circus

References

  1. ^ A grammar of modern Indo-European, p. 398, 3rd paragraph
  2. ^ The American heritage dictionary of Indo-European roots, p. 78, entry for "(s)ker-3

Anagrams

Dutch

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsɪr.kʏs/
  • Audio(file)
  • Hyphenation: cir‧cus

Noun

circus n (plural circussen, diminutive circusje n)

  1. circus (company of performers; place where this company performs)

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Afrikaans: sirkus
  • → Indonesian: sirkus

See also

Latin

Etymology

Likely borrowed from Ancient Greek κρίκος (kríkos), κίρκος (kírkos, “ring”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”).

Pronunciation

Noun

circus m (genitive circī); second declension

  1. a circular line or orbit; circle, ring
  2. a racecourse or space where games are held, especially one that is round
  3. the spectators in a circus; a circus

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative circus circī
Genitive circī circōrum
Dative circō circīs
Accusative circum circōs
Ablative circō circīs
Vocative circe circī

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Balkan Romance:
  • Italo-Romance:
  • Padanian:
  • Gallo-Romance:
  • Ibero-Romance:
  • Insular Romance:
  • Ancient borrowings:

Learned borrowings:

References

  1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “circus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 115

Further reading

  • “circus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “circus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • circus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • “circus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • “circus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
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