cercle French · revision 38616

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1160, Roman d'Eneas|origins=la circus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /sɛʁkl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cercle''' ''m'' (plural cercles)^(Wiktionary)

+ Anglo-Norman also [[m|xno|cercel]], [[m|xno|sercle]] and [[m|xno|cerkle]].^(AND)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|circulus|t=circle; ring; hoop]], a diminutive of [[m|la|circus|t=circle; circus]] that partly took over its senses.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|2, 703a)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word already had most of the French senses: a gathering of people (from Accius), a circular object and a barrel hoop (Varro, Petronius), and terms of astronomy, geography and geometry (Seneca, Cicero).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The Petit Robert derives the Latin noun from [[grc|κίρκος|tr=kírkos]], a form of [[m|grc|κρίκος|tr=kríkos|t=ring]], from an Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*(s)ker-]] expressing curvature.^(Petit Robert 2007) In the Centre and French-speaking Switzerland there are traces of the forms [[cerce]] and [[cerche]], whose formation is unclear.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|cerchio]], [[oc|cercle]], [[ca|cercle]], [[es|círculo]] and [[pt|círculo]];^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935) compare [[de|Zirkel]];^(Petit Robert 2007) the word was borrowed as [[en|circle]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Roman d'Eneas'' (1160) it is the metal band round the crown of a helmet;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) about the same time Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses it for the disc of the Earth.^(TLFi) The Anglo-Norman Dictionary has the word from 1113–1119.^(AND)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Besides the helmet band, the word named the hoop round a barrel (1185–1188, ''Raoul de Cambrai'') and, in geometry, a circumference (1265–1268, Brunetto Latini).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Nicot (1606) uses it for a halo round the Moon.^(TLFi)

+

+ In the 17th century it became common for a group of people in a salon (1653, Loret), and, from that for a club with a particular aim (1764).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In logic Furetière (1690) defines it as the fault of an argument that assumes what it should prove; the Académie records ''cercle vicieux'' in 1798.^(TLFi) ''Quadrature du cercle'' (1690) came to mean something impossible.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In French colonial Africa ''cercle'' was an administrative district, headed by a ''commandant de cercle''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1113–1119 – Earliest Anglo-Norman record.^(AND)

+ * 1160 – The band round a helmet, in the ''Roman d'Eneas''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1185–1188 – A barrel hoop, in ''Raoul de Cambrai''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1265–1268 – The geometrical sense, in Brunetto Latini.^(TLFi)

+ * 1377 – ''Demi-cercle''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1653 – A group of people in a salon.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – Furetière records the logical sense and ''quadrature du cercle''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1764 – A club or association.^(TLFi)

+ * 1798 – ''Cercle vicieux'' in the Académie dictionary.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(geometry)'' A [[m|en|circle]]: a closed curve whose points are all the same distance from a centre; the surface it encloses.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A circular object; a ring or [[m|en|hoop]], as round a barrel.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+ # A ring of people or things: ''former un cercle autour du feu''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A group of people; a [[m|en|club]] or society: ''un cercle d'amis'', ''un cercle littéraire''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(logic)'' ''Cercle vicieux'': circular reasoning; a situation one cannot escape from.^(TLFi)

+ # ''Quadrature du cercle'': an impossible problem.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''(geography)'' ''Cercle polaire'': the polar circle.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(history)'' An administrative district in French colonial Africa.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cercler]]

+ * [[encercler]]

+ * [[demi-cercle]]

+ * [[cerclage]]

+ * [[encerclement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cerceau]]

+ * [[cerce]]

+ * [[chercher]]

+ * [[circulaire]]

+ * [[cirque]]

+ * [[cerne]]

+ * [[la|circulus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}