Etymograph

English

circulation

Circulation comes from Latin circulatio ‘revolution, circulation’, from circulor ‘to gather a circle of people around oneself’, and ultimately from circus ‘a circular line or orbit’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcircus1‘a circular line or orbit’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcirculus1‘circle’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcirculor2‘to gather a circle of people around oneself’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcirculatio3‘revolution, circulation’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500circulacioun3
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1822circulation3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin circulor
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin circulatio
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English circulation
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1822, John Barclay, Ancient and Modern: “In the dead state all is apparently without motion.…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcircusWiktionary, Latin circulor‘a circular line or orbit’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcirculusWiktionary, Latin circulor‘circle’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcirculorWiktionary, Latin circulatio‘to gather a circle of people around oneself’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcirculatioWiktionary, English circulation‘revolution, circulation’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500circulaciounWiktionary, English circulation
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1822circulationWiktionary, English circulation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1822, John Barclay, Ancient and Modern: “In the dead state all is apparently without motion.…”

Formed from circulate + -ion

Latin circus ‘a circular line or orbit’

Latin circulus ‘circle’

Late Latin circulō ‘to make circular, encircle’

Late Latin circulātus ‘rounded’

English circulate

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut off, sever’

short, across, share, card, cross, cancer, screen, score, shirt, crucial, scare, curve, carnival, skirt, scar, shrine, crest, curb, scrutiny, shear, shred, carnage, coronary, corona, raffle, cancellation, scorn, shrewd, scorpion, crux, corolla, shard, carnal, riddance, carcinoma, crepe, carnivorous, corgi, incarceration, ruck, 115 more

through Latin circus ‘a circular line or orbit’

circa, cirque, 18 more

through Latin circulus ‘circle’

circle, 6 more

Today it means

noun The act of moving in a circle, or in a course which brings the moving body to the place where its motion began.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “circulation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin circulor, Latin circulatio. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin circus / circulation

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