circus

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See also: Circus

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

From Latin circus (“ring, circle”), from Proto-Indo-European *sker, *ker (“to turn, to bend”).[1][2]

Pronunciation

  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 239: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈsɜːkəs/
  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 239: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GenAm" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈsɝkəs/
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)kəs

Noun

circus (plural circuses)

  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.
    • (Can we date this quote by RAFWeb and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?) [1]
      ... the squadron (No. 452) moved to Kenley in July 1941 and took part in the usual round of Circus, Rhubarb and Ramrod missions.
  6. (obsolete) Circuit; space; enclosure.
    • (Can we date this quote by Byron and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
      The narrow circus of my dungeon wall.

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Translations

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

Dutch

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

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

See also

Latin

Etymology

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Pronunciation

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

Template:mid2

Descendants

  • Albanian: qark
  • Asturian: cercu, circu (borrowing)
  • Catalan: circ (borrowing)
  • English: circus (borrowing)
  • French: cirque (borrowing)
  • Friulian: circ (borrowing)
  • Galician: cerco, circo (borrowing)
  • German: Circus (borrowing), Zirkus (borrowing)

Template:mid2

References

  • “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
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