English Online Dictionary. What means circus? What does circus mean?
English
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
- (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): /ˈkir.kus/, [ˈkɪrkʊs̠]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃir.kus/, [ˈt͡ʃirkus]
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