circus

circus

See also: Circus

English

Etymology

From Latin circus (“ring, circle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-, *ker- (“to turn, to bend”).[1][2] Doublet of cirque. Displaced native Old English hringsetl (literally “ring seat”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɜːkəs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɝkəs/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)kəs

Noun

circus (plural circuses or circusses or circi)

1. A traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, and other novelty acts, that gives shows usually in a circular tent. [from late 18th c.]

   The circus will be in town next week.

2. A round open space in a town or city where multiple streets meet.

   Oxford Circus in London is at the north end of Regent Street.

3. (figurative) A spectacle; a noisy fuss; a chaotic and/or crowded place.
   • 2009, Christine Brooks, A Quiet Village (page 81)

     The village would be turned into a circus over this. He groaned, it was just the sort of case the media had a field day over. He had to get the whole thing sorted fast before anyone got wind of it.

4. (historical) In the ancient Roman Empire, a building for chariot racing.
5. (military, World War II) A code name for bomber attacks with fighter escorts in the day time. The attacks were against short-range targets with the intention of occupying enemy fighters and keeping their fighter units in the area concerned.
6. (obsolete) Circuit; space; enclosure.
   • 1817, Lord Byron, The Lament of Tasso

     The narrow circus of my dungeon wall.

Coordinate terms

• (open space): concourse

Derived terms

• a few clowns short of a circus
• bread and circuses
• circus act
• circus freak
• circus-goer
• circus peanut
• circus ring
• flea circus
• flying circus
• let's get this circus on the road
• media circus
• psychedelic circus
• three-ring circus

 

Related terms

• circle
• circular

 

Translations

company that travels

Afrikaans: sirkus Albanian: cirk (sq) m Amharic: ሲርኩስ (sirkus) Arabic: سِيرْك‎ m (sirk) Armenian: կրկես (hy) (krkes) Asturian: circu m Azerbaijani: sirk (az) Basque: zirku Belarusian: цырк m (cyrk) Bengali: সার্কাস (sarkas) Bulgarian: цирк m (cirk) Burmese: ဆပ်ကပ် (my) (hcapkap) Catalan: circ (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 馬戲團／马戏团 (zh) (mǎxìtuán), 馬戲場／马戏场 (zh) (mǎxìchǎng), 雜技場／杂技场 (zh) (zájìchǎng) Czech: cirkus (cs) m Danish: cirkus (da) n or c Dutch: circus (nl) n Esperanto: cirko Estonian: tsirkus Faroese: sirkus c Finnish: sirkus (fi) French: cirque (fr) m Galician: circo (gl) m Georgian: ცირკი (cirḳi) German: Zirkus (de) m Greek: τσίρκο (el) n (tsírko) Hebrew: קִרְקָס‎ (he) m (kirkás) Hindi: सर्कस (hi) m (sarkas) Hungarian: cirkusz (hu) Indonesian: sirkus (id) Irish: sorcas m Italian: circo (it) m Japanese: サーカス (sākasu), 曲馬団 (きょくばだん, kyokubadan) Kazakh: цирк (kk) (sirk) Khmer: សៀក (siək) Korean: 서커스 (ko) (seokeoseu) Kyrgyz: цирк (ky) (tsirk) Lao: ລະຄອນສັດ (la khǭn sat), ກາຍຍະສິນ (lo) (kāi nya sin) Latin: circēnsēs m pl Latvian: cirks m Lithuanian: cirkas m Macedonian: циркус m (cirkus) Malay: sarkas (ms) Maori: tākihi Mongolian: Cyrillic: цирк (mn) (cirk) Mongolian: ᠼᠢᠷᠻ (cirkh) Norwegian: Bokmål: sirkus n Nynorsk: sirkus n Occitan: circ (oc) m Old English: hringsetl n Pashto: سېرک‎ m (sirk), سرکس‎ (ps) m (sarkas) Persian: سیرک‎ (fa) (sirk), سرکس‎ (sarkas) (Dari) Polish: cyrk (pl) m Portuguese: circo (pt) m Romanian: circ (ro) n Russian: цирк (ru) m (cirk) Rusyn: ці́ркус m (církus) Sardinian: circu, tzircu Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: цѝркус m Roman: cìrkus (sh) m Sinhalese: සර්කස් (sarkas) Slovak: cirkus (sk) m Slovene: cirkus (sl) m Spanish: circo (es) m Swedish: cirkus (sv) c Tagalog: sirko (tl) Tajik: сирк (sirk) Tamil: வட்டரங்கு (vaṭṭaraṅku) Telugu: సర్కస్ (sarkas) Thai: ละครสัตว์ (th) (lá-kɔɔn-sàt) Turkish: sirk (tr) Turkmen: sirk, aýman Ukrainian: цирк (uk) m (cyrk) Urdu: سرکس‎ m (sarkas) Uyghur: سېرك‎ (sërk) Uzbek: sirk (uz) Vietnamese: xiếc (vi), xiệc Volapük: sirkud (vo) Yiddish: צירק‎ m (tsirk)

round open space

Bulgarian: кръ́гъл площа́д m (krǎ́gǎl ploštád) Finnish: aukio (fi) Hungarian: körtér (hu), körönd (hu) Italian: circo (it) m Malay: bulatan (ms) Polish: cyrk (pl) m, rondo (pl) n Portuguese: cruzamento (pt) Russian: кру́глая пло́щадь f (krúglaja plóščadʹ)

Verb

circus (third-person singular simple present circuses or circusses, present participle circusing or circussing, simple past and past participle circused or circussed)

1. To take part in a circus; or to be displayed as if in a circus

References

1. A grammar of modern Indo-European, p. 398, 3rd paragraph
2. The American heritage dictionary of Indo-European roots, p. 78, entry for "(s)ker-3

Anagrams

• Curcis, Ruccis

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Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪr.kʏs/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cir‧cus

Noun

circus n (plural circussen, diminutive circusje n)

1. circus (company of performers; place where this company performs)

Derived terms

• circusartiest
• circusclown
• circusdier
• circusshow
• circustent

Descendants

• Afrikaans: sirkus
• → Indonesian: sirkus

See also

• beestenspel

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Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek κίρκος (kírkos, “circle, ring”), related to κρίκος (kríkos, “ring”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkir.kus/, [ˈkɪrkʊs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃir.kus/, [ˈt͡ʃirkus]

Noun

circus m (genitive circī); second declension

1. a circular line or orbit; circle, ring
2. a racecourse or space where games are held, especially one that is round
3. the spectators in a circus; a circus

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	circus	circī
Genitive	circī	circōrum
Dative	circō	circīs
Accusative	circum	circōs
Ablative	circō	circīs
Vocative	circe	circī

Derived terms

• circa
• *circa
• circō
• circellus
• circinus
• circulus
• circum

Descendants

• Balkan Romance:
  • Megleno-Romanian: țerc
  • Romanian: cerc
• Italo-Romance:
  • Old Italian: cerco
    • → Sardinian: tzircu
  • Sicilian: circu
    • → Maltese: ċirku
• Padanian:
  • Piedmontese: cerc
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Norman: cher
  • Occitan: cerc
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Asturian: cercu
  • Galician: cerco
  • Portuguese: cerco
  • Spanish: cerco
• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian: circu (Campidanese), chircu (Nuorese)
• Ancient borrowings:
  • → Albanian: qark

Learned borrowings:

• Asturian: circu
• Catalan: circ
• Dutch: circus (see there for further descendants)
• English: circus
• French: cirque (see there for further descendants)
• Friulian: circ
• Galician: circo
• German: Circus, Zirkus (see there for further descendants)
• Italian: circo
• Occitan: circ
• Polish: cyrk
• Portuguese: circo
• Romanian: circ
• Spanish: circo

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “cĭrcus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 2: C Q K, page 708

Further reading

• “circus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “circus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• circus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “circus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “circus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin