circle

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈsɜː.kəl/, US /ˈsɝː.kəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English cercle,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French cercle (“circle, ring; hoop of a helmet or barrel”) (12th century),^[4][2] from Latin circulus (“circular figure, small ring, hoop”),^[4][2][5] a diminutive of circus “ring”, the source of circus,^[4][2][5] probably from Greek kirkos, krikos “ring”.^[2][3] The spelling was later altered after Latin circulus,^[3][6] and the modern spelling circle was gradually established in the 1500s.^[2] Late Old English circul, borrowed from Latin and used only in astronomy, did not survive.^[4][2][6] It is related to circuit and circulate.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A perfectly round plane figure: about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline,^[2][4] about 1305 in the OED.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It replaced Old English trendel and hring.^[4] It was soon used in a vaguer sense of anything round, from about 1380,^[7] and of a figure in magic from 1529.^[7] A coterie is from the 1640s, a sense also found in Latin circulus,^[4] and a group of people round a centre of interest from 1714.^[4] Come full circle goes back to Shakespeare's King Lear, “The wheel is come full circle”, the wheel of Fortune.^[5][4] In logic a circular argument is from the 1640s,^[4] and dark circles round the eyes from 1848.^[4] Go round in circles is from 1933.^[7] The verb meant to surround from about 1385, in Chaucer,^[2][7] and to move round in a circle from the mid-15th century.^[4] Circle the wagons, to take a defensive stance, is from 1969, from Western films.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – a round plane figure.^[2][4]
• c. 1385 – verb, to surround.^[2]
• mid-15th century – verb, to move round.^[4]
• 1529 – a magic circle.^[7]
• 1640s – a coterie; a circular argument.^[4]
• 1714 – a group round a centre.^[4]
• 1848 – circles under the eyes.^[4]
• 1969 – circle the wagons.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A closed plane curve every point of which is the same distance from the centre, or the area it encloses.
2. Something shaped like a circle; a ring.
3. A group of people with a shared interest or profession: literary circles.
4. A circular course or orbit; a cycle.
5. A curved upper section of seats in a theatre.

Verb

1. To move in a circle around.
2. To draw a circle around; to encircle.

Word family

• circler

Related words

• circular
• circulate
• circus
• circuit
• search

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press