circuit

English Online Dictionary. What means circuit‎? What does circuit mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɜː.kɪt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɝ.kɪt/
• (India) IPA^(key): /ˈsɜ(ɾ).kɪʈ/, (proscribed) /sʌ(ɾ)ˈkjuːʈ/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)kɪt

Etymology 1

From Middle English circuit, from Old French circuit, from Latin circuitus (“a going round”), from circuire (“go round”), from circum (“around”) + ire.

Noun

circuit (plural circuits)

1. The act of moving or revolving around, or as in a circle or orbit; a revolution
2. The circumference of, or distance around, any space; the measure of a line around an area.
3. That which encircles anything, as a ring or crown.
4. The space enclosed within a circle, or within limits.
6. (electricity) Enclosed path of an electric current, usually designed for a certain function.
7. A regular or appointed trip from place to place as part of one's job
8. (law) The jurisdiction of certain judges within a state or country, whether itinerant or not.
9. (law) Abbreviation of circuit court.
10. (Methodism) The basic grouping of local Methodist churches.
11. (theater) A set of theaters among which the same acts circulate; especially common in the heyday of vaudeville.
12. (motor racing) A track on which a race in held; a racetrack
    • November 13 2016, Formula 1

      Interlagos is the 24th track Hamilton has won at in F1, which is more than any other driver in history. The only circuit on the current calendar that Hamilton hasn’t won at is Baku, which only joined the schedule this year.

13. (obsolete) circumlocution
14. (Scientology) A thought that unconsciously goes round and round in a person's mind and controls that person.
15. (graph theory) A closed trail.
16. A chain of cinemas/movie theaters.

Synonyms

• (path or distance around a space): periplus (naval)

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

circuit (third-person singular simple present circuits, present participle circuiting, simple past and past participle circuited)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To move in a circle; to go round; to circulate.
2. (transitive, obsolete) To travel around.

Etymology 2

A calque of Chinese 道 (dào) or 路 (lù).

Noun

circuit (plural circuits)

1. (historical) Various administrative divisions of imperial and early Republican China, including:
   1. The counties at the fringes of the empire, usually with a non-Chinese population, from the Han to the Western Jin.
   2. The 10 or so major provinces of the empire from the Tang to the early Yuan.
   3. Major provincial divisions from the Yuan to early Republican China.

Synonyms

• dao; lu, route (Later Jin to Song); tao (obsolete)

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circuitus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [sirˈkujt]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [siɾˈkujt]

Noun

circuit m (plural circuits)

1. circuit

Further reading

• “circuit”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April
• “circuit”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “circuit” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “circuit” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French circuit, from Old French circuit, from Latin circuitus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɪrˈkʋi/
• Hyphenation: cir‧cuit
• Rhymes: -i

Noun

circuit n (plural circuits, diminutive circuitje n)

1. (sports) racetrack

   Synonym: racebaan

2. (physics) electric circuit

   Synonym: stroomkring

3. (figuratively) exclusive group of individuals, clique, circle

   Synonyms: kliek, kring

Descendants

• → Indonesian: sirkuit

French

Etymology

From Latin circuitus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /siʁ.kɥi/
• Homophone: circuits

Noun

circuit m (plural circuits)

1. circuit
2. tour

Derived terms

Further reading

• “circuit”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkɪr.ku.ɪt]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈt͡ʃir.ku.it̪]

Verb

circuit

1. third-person singular present active indicative of circueō

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French circuit and Latin circuitus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡ʃir.kuˈit/

Noun

circuit n (plural circuite)

1. circuit

Declension

Related terms