Etymologically
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circo

Etymology and origin of the Latin word circo

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Gromatici
Ultimate origin
Latin (circus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin circus
English circus
Latin circo

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkɪr.koː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈt͡ʃir.ko][1]

Forms

circō (present infinitive circāre, perfect active circāvī, supine circātum); first conjugation, no passive[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin circus (“circle”) + -ō.[2][1] The TLL derives it from circum or circā.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD, Lewis & Short and Gaffiot cite the land surveyors (Gromatici), of going round a hill.[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to go about, traverse, go round, as of a mountain in the surveyors, and to wander about.[2][4][5]

It is the source of Italian cercare, French chercher and Catalan cercar “to seek”, and English search (c. 1300) comes from Old French cerchier, from Late Latin circāre “to go about”.[1][6]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – English search is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To go round, traverse.[2][4]
  2. To wander about.[4]

Word family

  • circitō
  • circumcirco

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Circo.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/circo. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·