English
circulus
Circulus comes from Latin circulus ‘circle’, and goes back to circus ‘a circular line or orbit’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcircus1‘a circular line or orbit’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcirculus1‘circle’
- Englishtodaycirculus1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English circulus
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcircusWiktionary, English circulus‘a circular line or orbit’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcirculusWiktionary, English circulus‘circle’
- EnglishtodaycirculusWiktionary, English circulus
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, scar, cancellation, skirt, scrutiny, shrine, crest, curb, corona, shear, scorpion, shred, carnage, incarceration, raffle, corolla, scorn, shrewd, crux, shard, carnal, riddance, crepe, carcinoma, corgi, ruck, shrew, chancel, 115 more
through Latin circus ‘a circular line or orbit’
through Latin circulus ‘circle’
Today it means
noun A social group of reptiles where there is interaction and personal exchange between individuals.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “circulus”. 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 / circulus