English Online Dictionary. What means circus? What does circus mean?
English
Etymology
From Middle English circus, circo, from Latin circus (“ring, circle”), from Ancient Greek κρίκος (kríkos), κίρκος (kírkos, “ring”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to bend, turn”). Doublet of cirque. Cognate with Old English hring (whence English ring) and Old English hringsetl (“circus”, literally “ring-seat”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɜːkəs/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsɝkəs/
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)kəs
Noun
circus (plural circuses or (rare) circusses or (rare) circi)
- A traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, and other novelty acts, that gives shows usually in a circular tent. [from late 18th c.]
- A round open space in a town or city where multiple streets meet.
- (figurative) A spectacle; a noisy fuss; a chaotic and/or crowded place.
- (historical) In the ancient Roman Empire, a building for chariot racing.
- (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.
- (obsolete) Circuit; space; enclosure.
Coordinate terms
- (open space): concourse
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)
- To take part in a circus; or to be displayed as if in a circus
References
Anagrams
- Curcis, Ruccis
Dutch
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin circus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsɪr.kʏs/
- Hyphenation: cir‧cus
Noun
circus n (plural circussen, diminutive circusje n)
- circus (company of performers; place where this company performs)
Derived terms
- circusartiest
- circusclown
- circusdier
- circusshow
- circustent
Descendants
- Afrikaans: sirkus
- → Indonesian: sirkus
See also
- beestenspel
Latin
Etymology
Likely borrowed from Ancient Greek κρίκος (kríkos), κίρκος (kírkos, “ring”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈkɪr.kʊs]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈt͡ʃir.kus]
Noun
circus m (genitive circī); second declension
- a circular line or orbit; circle, ring
- a racecourse or space where games are held, especially one that is round
- the spectators in a circus; a circus
Declension
Second-declension noun.
Derived terms
Descendants
Learned borrowings:
References
- Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “cĭrcus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 2: C Q K, page 708
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