circa

English

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circa.

Pronunciation

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

Preposition

circa

1. approximately, about

   Julius Caesar visited this area circa 50 BC.

Usage notes

• Used only before a date or measure, never after

Translations

approximately, about

• Arabic: حَوَالِي‏‎ (ḥawālī)

  Egyptian Arabic: حوالي‏‎ (ḥawalii)

• Bulgarian: около (bg) (okolo), приблизително (bg) (priblizitelno)
• Catalan: circa (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大約 (zh), 大约 (zh) (dàyuē)

• Czech: přibližně (cs), cirka (cs)
• Danish: cirka (da)
• Dutch: circa (nl)
• 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, 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 (ko) (...頃, ...gyeong), 대략 (ko) (daelyak)
• 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)

Anagrams

• ARCIC, Ricca, craic

---

Dutch

Alternative forms

• ca.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circa.

Adverb

circa

1. circa: about, approximately

---

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circa.

Preposition

circa

1. approximately, about

---

German

Alternative forms

• zirka

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈt͡sɪʁka]

Adverb

circa

1. circa

Synonyms

• etwa
• ungefähr

Further reading

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

---

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtʃir.ka/
• Hyphenation: cìr‧ca

Preposition

circa

1. regarding, concerning

Adverb

circa

1. about, approximately

Anagrams

• ricca

---

Latin

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkir.kaː/, [ˈkɪr.kaː]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃir.ka/

Adverb

circā (not comparable)

1. around; about

Preposition

circa + accusative case

1. around; near; about
2. regarding, concerning

Related terms

• circus

Descendants

• Dutch: circa
• English: circa

• Italian: circa
• Portuguese: cerca

• Romanian: circa
• Spanish: circa, cerca

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
• du Cange, Charles (1883), “circa”, in G. A. Louis Henschel, Pierre Carpentier, Léopold Favre, editors, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (in Latin), Niort: L. Favre
• “circa” in Félix Gaffiot’s Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette (1934)
• circa in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016

---

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circa.

Adverb

circa

1. approximately, about, or so

Synonyms

• cam