Etymologically
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circulus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈkɪr.kʊ.ɫʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈt͡ʃir.ku.lus][1]

Forms

circulus m (genitive circulī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is a diminutive of circus “ring, circle” with the suffix -ulus.[2][1][3] Lewis and Short compare Ancient Greek κίρκος (kírkos, “ring”) and Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos, “circle”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Accius, of a ring of people, and Köbler also starts with Accius.[2][5] Köbler dates Accius 170–c. 90 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant a circle, a circular figure, as Cicero's translation of Greek kýklos, a ring or circular mark, as in Livy, a circular ornament such as a necklet, and a hoop, as in Virgil, or a ring-shaped cake.[2][4] In astronomy it was an imaginary circle in the sky, a zone, the Milky Way and the orbit of a planet, as in Varro and Vitruvius.[2][6] In Seneca it meant a recurring cycle.[2] It also meant a group of people gathered to talk, a social circle, as in Accius.[2] Döderlein says orbis is a circular motion or its path, circulus a circular surface.[7] Isidore of Seville explains the ring round the pupil of the eye.[8]

In Medieval Latin it meant a kind of crown, an enclosure and a period, and in music a sign.[9][10] It survives in French cercle and Italian cerchio.[1] Through Old French cercle it is the source of English circle, about 1300.[3]

Timeline

  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of a group of people.[2][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of circles in the sky.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a circle.[2][5]
  • c. 1300 – English circle is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A circle, circular figure.[2]
  2. A ring; a necklet, hoop.[2]
  3. (astronomy) A celestial circle; a zone; an orbit.[2]
  4. A cycle.[2]
  5. A group of people, social circle.[2]

Word family

  • circulāris
  • sēmicirculus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  8. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  9. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  10. ^ 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