Etymologically
Log in

cercle

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the French word cercle

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1160, Roman d'Eneas
Inherited from
Latin circulus
Ultimate origin
Latin circus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin circulus
French cercle
Italian cerchio

Pronunciation

Forms

cercle m (plural cercles)[1] Anglo-Norman also cercel, sercle and cerkle.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin circulus (“circle; ring; hoop”), a diminutive of circus (“circle; circus”) that partly took over its senses.[3][4][5][6][1] The Latin word already had most of the French senses: a gathering of people (from Accius), a circular object and a barrel hoop (Varro, Petronius), and terms of astronomy, geography and geometry (Seneca, Cicero).[3][4] The Petit Robert derives the Latin noun from Ancient Greek κίρκος (kírkos), a form of κρίκος (kríkos, “ring”), from an Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- expressing curvature.[7] In the Centre and French-speaking Switzerland there are traces of the forms cerce and cerche, whose formation is unclear.[8]

Cognate with Italian cerchio, Occitan cercle, Catalan cercle, Spanish círculo and Portuguese círculo;[7][9] compare German Zirkel;[7] the word was borrowed as English circle.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Roman d'Eneas (1160) it is the metal band round the crown of a helmet;[3][4] about the same time Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses it for the disc of the Earth.[3] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has the word from 1113–1119.[2]

Semantic evolution

Besides the helmet band, the word named the hoop round a barrel (1185–1188, Raoul de Cambrai) and, in geometry, a circumference (1265–1268, Brunetto Latini).[3][4] Nicot (1606) uses it for a halo round the Moon.[3]

In the 17th century it became common for a group of people in a salon (1653, Loret), and, from that for a club with a particular aim (1764).[3][4] In logic Furetière (1690) defines it as the fault of an argument that assumes what it should prove; the Académie records cercle vicieux in 1798.[3] Quadrature du cercle (1690) came to mean something impossible.[3][4] In French colonial Africa cercle was an administrative district, headed by a commandant de cercle.[4]

Timeline

  • 1113–1119 – Earliest Anglo-Norman record.[2]
  • 1160 – The band round a helmet, in the Roman d'Eneas.[3]
  • 1185–1188 – A barrel hoop, in Raoul de Cambrai.[3]
  • 1265–1268 – The geometrical sense, in Brunetto Latini.[3]
  • 1377 – Demi-cercle.[8]
  • 1653 – A group of people in a salon.[3]
  • 1690 – Furetière records the logical sense and quadrature du cercle.[3]
  • 1764 – A club or association.[3]
  • 1798 – Cercle vicieux in the Académie dictionary.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (geometry) A circle: a closed curve whose points are all the same distance from a centre; the surface it encloses.[7][10]
  2. A circular object; a ring or hoop, as round a barrel.[3][11]
  3. A ring of people or things: former un cercle autour du feu.[3][1]
  4. A group of people; a club or society: un cercle d'amis, un cercle littéraire.[3][1]
  5. (logic) Cercle vicieux: circular reasoning; a situation one cannot escape from.[3]
  6. Quadrature du cercle: an impossible problem.[3][11]
  7. (geography) Cercle polaire: the polar circle.[1]
  8. (history) An administrative district in French colonial Africa.[4]

Word family

  • cercler
  • encercler
  • demi-cercle
  • cerclage
  • encerclement

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 703a
  7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  11. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Cercle.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/cercle. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·