circulatory

Etymology

The adjective is borrowed from Latin circulātōrius,^[2][3][4] perhaps also borrowed from Middle French circulatoire, recorded in French in the 16th century.^[5][2] The Shorter Oxford takes its main sense as formed from English circulate + -ory, with the obsolete sense "of a quack" from the Latin adjective.^[6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged calls the Latin source probable.^[4] The Latin word is formed from circulātus, the past participle of circulor (“to form a circle”),^[3][5] from circulus (“small ring”), the source of circle.^[5] The obsolete noun, a vessel used in alchemy, is a separate borrowing, from Medieval Latin circulātōrium.^[2][6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun, an alchemist's vessel for continuous distillation, an alembic or retort with its neck bent back into its lower part, is recorded first, in 1559, in P. Morwyng's translation of Gesner's Treasure of Euonymus.^[2][6] The adjective appears in 1597, in Hooker's Of the Lawes of Ecclesiasticall Politie, in the sense "circular".^[2] Etymonline dates the adjective to about 1600, of the blood.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The modern sense, relating to the circulation of the blood or another fluid, is recorded from 1605, in a translation of a work of chemistry by Du Chesne,^[2][6] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates its first known use to the same year.^[4] The other early senses died out: the adjective "for the purpose of chemical circulation", used of distilling vessels, from 1676 to 1721,^[2][6] and "of a quack or charlatan; deceptive", from 1652 to 1781, which goes back to the Latin adjective.^[2][6] Johnson (1755) still listed the alchemical vessel, and gave the adjective only in circulatory letters, the same as circular letters,^[7] a use the OED records from 1668 to 1735.^[2] The phrase circulatory system is recorded from 1862,^[5] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged also gives the adjective's use of the circulation of air or of traffic.^[4]

Timeline

• 1559 – noun, a vessel for continuous distillation (obsolete by 1728).^[2]
• 1597 – circular (obsolete).^[2]
• 1605 – relating to the circulation of the blood or another fluid.^[2][4]
• 1652 – relating to a quack or charlatan; deceptive (obsolete by 1781).^[2][6]
• 1668 – of a letter, circular (obsolete by 1735).^[2][7]
• 1676 – for the purpose of chemical circulation (obsolete by 1721).^[2]
• 1862 – circulatory system.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to circulation, especially of the blood: circulatory problems in the legs.^[8][4][2]
2. Relating to the circulatory system, the heart and blood vessels.^[8][4]
3. Relating to the circulation of other things, such as air or traffic.^[4]
4. (obsolete, 1676–1721) In alchemy, used for the continuous distillation of liquids.^[2][6][4]
5. (obsolete, 1652–1781) Relating to a quack or charlatan; deceptive.^[2][6]
6. (obsolete, 1668–1735) Of letters, circular.^[2][7]

Noun

1. (obsolete, 1559–1728) In alchemy, a vessel for continuous distillation, an alembic or retort whose neck bends back into its lower part.^[2][6][4][7]

Word family

• noncirculatory
• circulatory system

Related words

• circulate
• circulation
• circle
• circular

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt