circo

Forms

circo m (plural circhi)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin circus (“circle; circus”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The inherited outcome of the same Latin word is the now archaic cerco (“circle”), a doublet.^[1][5] The LEI notes that inherited forms of the Latin word are commoner than those of Latin circulus in the far southern dialects, and that the word also survives in Romanian cerc, Spanish cerco and Logudorese kírku.^[6]

The Latin word first meant a circle or orbit; the name stayed with the Roman racecourse after its plan became oval.^[5][7] It is probably a loan from Ancient Greek κρίκος (kríkos, “ring”), also κίρκος (kírkos).^[8][3][9][1] De Vaan calls the Greek word of uncertain origin, and a suggested reduplication of the root of Latin curvus (“bent”) speculative.^[8] Wiktionary connects the Greek word with Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Roman Miracole de Roma of the mid-13th century, for the oval arena of the Roman world where games and shows were held.^[10][6] GRADIT and Zingarelli date the word only from before 1519, in Leonardo, where DELI gives the sense “circle”.^[4][11][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the word also meant a circle in a figurative sense and, in Jacopo della Lana at Bologna (1324–1328), a circle of Hell.^[6] DELI dates the architectural sense of the Roman building, with two straight and two curved sides, from Barbaro in 1556.^[2][12] From 1820 it was also a round or oval stretch of land ringed by heights, the source of the geological circo glaciale.^[2][5]

The modern travelling show with trained animals and acrobats appears in a Milanese newspaper in 1842, and circo equestre in Tommaseo–Bellini in 1865.^[2] Late in the 20th century the word was extended to the travelling world of a sport (circo bianco, the world of skiing, in La Repubblica in 1984), to any lively milieu, and disparagingly to a place without seriousness.^[6][13][4] Albanian borrowed the word as Albanian cirk.^[1]

Timeline

• Mid-13th century – The Roman Miracole de Roma uses circo for the Roman arena.^[10]
• 1324–1328 – Jacopo della Lana uses circo for a circle of Hell.^[6]
• Before 1519 – Leonardo uses circo “circle”.^[2]
• 1556 – Barbaro describes the Roman circo.^[2]
• 1820 – The geographical sense “ring of heights” is recorded.^[2]
• 1842 – A Milanese newspaper uses circo for a show with trained animals.^[2]
• 1865 – Circo equestre appears in Tommaseo–Bellini.^[2]
• 1984 – La Repubblica writes of the circo bianco of Alpine skiing.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. (history) In ancient Rome, a long building with tiers of seats around an oval arena, used for chariot races and other public shows: il Circo Massimo.^[4][14][15]
2. A circus: a travelling show of acrobats, clowns and trained animals under a big top; also the company that performs it: Domani il circo lascia la città.^[4][14][11]
3. (sport) The athletes, teams and staff who travel from one event to the next in a sport: circo bianco, the world of skiing.^[4][14][16]
4. (by extension) A lively, busy milieu;^[4][14][11] (derogatory) a situation or setting that lacks seriousness.^[4][14][11]
5. (geology) circo glaciale: a cirque, a bowl-shaped hollow cut by a glacier at the head of a valley.^{[4][14][17][1]}
6. (astronomy) circo lunare: a ring-shaped formation on the surface of the Moon.^[14][16][17]

Related words

• cerchio
• cerco
• circense
• Latin circus

Usage notes

GRADIT has a second circo in zoology, a bird of prey of the harrier genus Circus, from 1830, taken from the scientific Latin name, which comes from Greek kírkos “falcon”.^[4] The plural is circhi.^[1][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 956
6. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 14, 723
7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
14. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
17. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)