Etymologically
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circa

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈt͡ʃir.ka/[1]

Forms

circa (invariable)[1] Old Italian also wrote cerca, çerca, cercha, circha and zerca, mostly in northern texts.[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin circā (“around, about”), a learned word.[3][4][5][6] The Latin adverb and preposition is formed from circus (“circle, ring”), the source of cerchio, with the ending “-ā” on the model of extrā (“outside”), intrā (“inside”) and suprā (“above”).[4][7][3] Wiktionary explains it instead as a later form of circum (“around”).[1]

The Latin word was also inherited: the popular form with “e” is Old Italian cerca of northern and central Old Italian (Pavia “cercha” about 1340, Venetian “cerca” in the 14th century), and the same word survives in Sicilian, in Romansh and in Spanish cerca and Portuguese cerca “near”.[8][4][5][9] Forms closer to the Latin, such as Friulian cirche “roughly”, are learned like the Italian word.[8] The LEI takes Amerigo Vespucci's “a circa di” to be a Spanish loan, and circadiano to be an anglicism.[8] From “in circa” comes the adverb incirca (late 15th century).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Milanese poems of Bonvesin de la Riva (13th century), with the sense “approximately, more or less”, said of a quantity or a measure.[2][8] DELI dates the adverb “nearly, roughly” to 1310–1312, in Dino Compagni, and the preposition “concerning, around” to before 1321, in Dante.[3]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the preposition also placed things in space and time: “around” a place, “about” an hour (Sicilian circa la hura nona, 1373).[2][8] Dante uses it of the two garlands of souls that turned around him, “volgìensi circa noi le due ghirlande” (Paradiso 12).[6][10] The local sense lasted into scientific prose: Giordano Bruno and Galileo write of the earth or a balance moving circa a centre.[10] By the 19th century Tommaseo called it a Latinism no longer in use, and the dictionaries now mark it archaic or literary.[11][12][13]

Two senses remain in use: “concerning, as regards” and “about, approximately” before or after a number, abbreviated c. or ca.[6][13][14] In trade and finance a clausola circa allows a small difference in the quantity or price agreed, and un circa is that clause.[14][12][13]

Timeline

  • Before 1315 – Bonvesin de la Riva uses Milanese cerca and circa for “approximately”.[2][8]
  • 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses the adverb “nearly, roughly”.[3]
  • Before 1321 – Dante uses the preposition “around” and “concerning”.[3][6]
  • About 1340 – Pavese cercha “around” in a statute.[8]
  • Late 15th century – The adverb incirca appears.[4]

Meanings

Preposition

  1. Concerning, regarding, as for (introducing the topic): Non abbiamo ancora notizie circa la sua partenza.[6][12][13][1]
  2. (archaic, literary) around, near (a place).[6][12][15]

Adverb

  1. about, approximately, more or less, before or after a number: Il paese dista circa venti chilometri.[6][12][14][1]

Noun

  1. (invariable; finance, trade) The “circa clause”, allowing a small tolerance in the quantity or price of goods or securities.[6][14][16]

Word family

  • incirca

Usage notes

Circa a for circa “concerning” is uncommon.[13][14] The adverb is often replaced by all'incirca or pressappoco.[15][16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c d e Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  4. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 955
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 14, 499
  9. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
  11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  12. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  13. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  14. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  15. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  16. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli