circa

See also: Circa

English

Alternative forms

• ca., ca, or c.; rarely cca., cir. or circ. (abbreviations)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circa.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɜːkə/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɝkə/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)kə
• Hyphenation: cir‧ca

Preposition

circa

1. Approximately, about, around (typically in relation to time)

   Julius Caesar visited this area circa 50 BC.

Translations

approximately, about, around

• Arabic: حَوَالِي‎ (ḥawālī)

  Egyptian Arabic: حوالي‎ (ḥawālī)

• Armenian: մոտ (hy) (mot), մոտավորապես (hy) (motavorapes)
• Bulgarian: около (bg) (okolo), приблизително (bg) (priblizitelno)
• Catalan: circa (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大約／大约 (zh) (dàyuē)

• Czech: přibližně (cs), cirka (cs)
• Danish: cirka (da)
• Dutch: circa (nl)
• Esperanto: ĉirkaŭ (eo)
• Faroese: umleið
• Finnish: noin (fi)
• French: (with a measure) environ (fr), (with a date) vers (fr)
• Georgian: დაახლოებით (daaxloebit)
• German: ungefähr (de), etwa (de), um (de), circa (de), zirka (de)
• Greek: περίπου (el) (perípou), περ. (per.)
• Hebrew: בקירוב‎ (be'qiruv)
• Icelandic: um það bil (is), circa (is), sirka
• Italian: circa (it)
• Japanese: 約… (ja) (yaku), 大体… (ja) (daitai), …位 (ja) (kurai; gurai), …頃 (ja) (…ごろ, goro), およそ… (ja) (oyoso)
• Korean: […] 경(頃) ([ … ] gyeong), 대략(大略) (ko) (daeryak)
• Macedonian: о́колу (ókolu), при́ближно (príbližno), ци́рка (círka)
• Norwegian: cirka (no)
• Persian: حوالی‎ (fa) (havâli-ye)
• Polish: około (pl)
• Portuguese: cerca de, aproximadamente (pt)
• Russian: приблизи́тельно (ru) (priblizítelʹno), приме́рно (ru) (primérno), о́коло (ru) (ókolo) (+ genitive case)
• Spanish: cerca de, aproximadamente (es)
• Swedish: cirka (sv)
• Tibetan: ཡས་མས (yas mas)
• Turkish: aşağı yukarı (tr)
• Udmurt: ог (og)

See also

• circum-

Anagrams

• ARCIC, Ricca, craic

Czech

Alternative forms

• cirka

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈt͡sɪrka]

Adverb

circa

1. circa, approximately

   Synonym: cca

Further reading

• circa in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• circa in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Alternative forms

• ca.
• c.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪr.kaː/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cir‧ca

Preposition

circa

1. circa: about, approximately

Adverb

circa

1. circa: about, approximately

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /siʁ.ka/

Preposition

circa

1. approximately, about

German

Alternative forms

• zirka

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈt͡sɪʁka]

• Audio

  (file)

Adverb

circa

1. circa

   Synonyms: etwa, ungefähr

Further reading

• “circa” in Duden online
• “circa” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “circa” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circā.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃir.ka/
• Rhymes: -irka
• Hyphenation: cìr‧ca

Preposition

circa

1. regarding, concerning

Adverb

circa

1. about, approximately

Anagrams

• craci, ricca

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkir.kaː/, [ˈkɪrkäː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃir.ka/, [ˈt͡ʃirkä]

Etymology 1

A later form for circum, or from circum + eā.

The accusative is from the adverbial derivation.

Adverb

circā (not comparable)

1. around; about
2. on both sides

Preposition

circā (+ accusative)

1. around; near; about
   • Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita I, 7:

     Circa advenam manifestae reum caedis

     around the stranger accused of open murder

2. regarding, concerning
   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Ephesii.6.22:

     quem misi ad vos in hoc ipsum ut cognoscatis quae circa nos sunt et consoletur corda vestra

     Whom I have sent to you for this very thing, so that you can know things that are about us, and so that he can comfort your hearts.

Related terms

• circātor
• circus

Descendants

• Asturian: cerca, cierca
• Catalan: cerca, circa
• Dutch: circa
• English: circa
• French: circa
• German: circa
• Italian: circa
• Norwegian Bokmål: cirka
• Portuguese: cerca
• Romanian: circa
• Sicilian: circa
• Spanish: cerca, circa

References

• “circa”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “circa”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• circa 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)
• circa in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• circa in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• Online Latin dictionary, Olivetti

Etymology 2

Ultimately related to etymology 1. Sense 4 is only attested in the form cerca(s); see there for more.

Noun

circa f (genitive circae); first declension (Medieval Latin)

1. patrol, watch
2. episcopal visit
3. inquiry, inquest
4. defensive enclosure, moat

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circa.

Adverb

circa

1. approximately, about, or so

   Synonym: cam

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin circā.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /ˈθiɾka/ [ˈθiɾ.ka]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /ˈsiɾka/ [ˈsiɾ.ka]
• Rhymes: -iɾka
• Syllabification: cir‧ca

Preposition

circa

1. circa

Further reading

• “circa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014