circumstance

English

Alternative forms

• circumstaunce

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːns

Noun

circumstance (plural circumstances)

1. That which attends, or relates to, or in some way affects, a fact or event; an attendant thing or state of things.
   • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 1, The Tragedy in Dartmoor Terrace^[1]:

     “The story of this adoption is, of course, the pivot round which all the circumstances of the mysterious tragedy revolved. Mrs. Yule had an only son, namely, William, to whom she was passionately attached ; but, like many a fond mother, she had the desire of mapping out that son's future entirely according to her own ideas. […]”

2. An event; a fact; a particular incident.
   • 1834, David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of, Nebraska 1987, p. 20:

     Then another circumstance happened, which made a lasting impression on my memory, though I was but a small child.

3. Circumlocution; detail.
4. Condition in regard to worldly estate; state of property; situation; surroundings.

Translations

that which attends, or relates to, or in some way affects, a fact or event

• Arabic: حالة (ar) (Haala) f, ظَرْف (ar) (Zarf) m
• Armenian: հանգամանք (hy) (hangamank’) , պարագա (hy) (paraga) 
• Bulgarian: обстоятелство (bg) (obstojatelstvo) n 
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 情況 (cmn), 情况 (cmn) (qíngkuàng), 狀態 (cmn), 状态 (cmn) (zhuàngtài)

• Czech: okolnost (cs) f
• Danish: omstændighed (da) c
• Dutch: omstandigheid (nl)
• Finnish: olosuhteet (fi) pl, olot (fi) pl
• French: circonstance (fr) f
• Hebrew: נסיבות (he) (nesibot) f pl
• Hungarian: körülmény (hu)
• Icelandic: kringumstæður (is) n pl

• Italian: circostanza (it) f
• Japanese: 状況 (ja) (jōkyō), 事情 (ja) (jijō)
• Korean: 상황 (ko) (sanghwang)
• Norwegian Bokmål: omstendighet (nb) m and f
• Norwegian Nynorsk: omstende (nn) n
• Romanian: circumstanță (ro) f, împrejurare (ro) f
• Russian: обстоятельство (ru) (obstojátel'stvo) n , условие (ru) (uslóvije) n , ситуация (ru) (situácija) f , положение (ru) (položénije) n 
• Scottish Gaelic: cor (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: околност (sh) f

  Roman: okolnost (sh) f

• Swedish: omständighet (sv) c

event; fact; particular incident

• Armenian: դեպք (hy) (depk’) 
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 事件 (cmn) (shìjiàn)

• Dutch: omstandigheid (nl)
• Finnish: yhteensattuma (fi)

• German: Umstand (de) m
• Italian: dettaglio (it) m
• Japanese: 事件 (ja) (jiken)
• Russian: обстоятельство (ru) (obstojátel'stvo) n , случай (ru) (slúčaj) m 

circumlocution; detail

• Armenian: մանրամասնություն (hy) (manramasnut’yun) , պարագա (hy) (paraga) 
• Bulgarian: подробност (bg) (podrobnost) f 
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 詳情 (cmn), 详情 (cmn) (xiángqíng), 細節 (cmn), 细节 (cmn) (xìjié)

• Danish: detalje (da) c, omstændelighed (da) c
• Finnish: seikka (fi), asianhaara (fi), yksityiskohta (fi)
• Italian: circonlocuzione (it) f
• Russian: деталь (ru) (detál') f , подробность (ru) (podróbnost') f , частность (ru) (částnost') f 

condition in regard to worldly estate

• Bulgarian: материално положение (bg) (materialno polozenie) 
• Danish: kår (da) n

• Finnish: varallisuus (fi), varat (fi) pl
• Russian: материальное положение (ru) (materiál'noje položénije) n 

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Mandarin:事態 (cmn), 事态 (cmn) (shìtài)
• Ido: cirkonstanco (io)

• Latin: circumstantia (la)
• Spanish: circunstancia (es) f

Derived terms

• attendant circumstance
• extenuating circumstances
• under no circumstance
• under the circumstances

Verb

circumstance (third-person singular simple present circumstances, present participle circumstancing, simple past and past participle circumstanced)

1. To place in a particular situation, especially with regard to money or other resources.
   • 1858, Anthony Trollope, Doctor Thorne, Chapter 8:

     Tidings had in some shape reached is ears that his father was not comfortably circumstanced as regarded money.

   • 1949, Diderot studies, volume 11, page 170: 

     While also taxing Ferrein with the same motives, Diderot's account of his doings is much more circumstanced than La Mettrie's, and also much more amusing, thanks to the interpolation of the «bijoux» motif.