circulatio

Forms

circulātiō f (genitive circulātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin circulō (“to form a circle”) + -tiō, a noun of action;^[2][3][4] Wiktionary derives it from the deponent ⟨circulor⟩.^[1] The verb is made on circulus (“small ring”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short and Gaffiot cite it from Vitruvius for the circuit of the planet Mercury, Mercuriī circulātiō;^[5][6] the TLL, however, prefers the reading circumlātiō there, and Georges refers the word to that one.^[7][8] The TLL also notes it in Dionysius Exiguus' translation of Gregory of Nyssa.^[7]

Semantic evolution

It became common only in Medieval Latin.^[4][2] Richer of Reims uses it in the 10th century for the encircling of an enemy by an army.^[9][4] The scholastics, Albertus Magnus above all, used it for circular motion and revolution and for a cycle of changes,^[9][10] and Roger Bacon and John Peckham for reasoning or causation that runs in a circle.^[10] It could also mean circularity of shape, a circle or its circumference, and a tropic.^[9][10][4]

In practical writing it named the hooping of tubs, in an English account of 1287,^[10] and the bend of a boundary in Hungarian charters of 1335 and 1338.^[11] English took circulation from it in the mid-15th century, first as a term of alchemy.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Some editions of Vitruvius have it for the circuit of Mercury.^[5][6][4]
• 10th century – Richer of Reims uses it for the encircling of an enemy.^[9][4]
• 1287 – An English account uses it of hooping tubs.^[10]
• 1335 – A Hungarian charter uses it for the bend of a boundary.^[11]
• mid-15th century – English circulation is recorded, in alchemy.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A circular course, a revolution (of a planet).^[5][6][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) Circular motion, rotation; a cycle of changes.^[9][10][4]
3. (Medieval Latin) An encircling (of an enemy).^[9][4]
4. (Medieval Latin) Reasoning or causation in a circle.^[9][10]
5. (Medieval Latin) Circularity; a circle, a circumference.^[9][10][4]
6. (Medieval Latin) The hooping of tubs.^[10]
7. (Medieval Latin) A bend or curve (of a boundary).^[11]

Related words

• English circulation

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE