circulus

Latin

Alternative forms

• circlus (rare, poetic)

Etymology

From circus +‎ -ulus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkir.ku.lus/, [ˈkɪrkʊɫ̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃir.ku.lus/, [ˈt͡ʃirkulus]

Noun

circulus m (genitive circulī); second declension

1. A circle (geometric figure)
2. An orbit (circular path)
3. A ring, hoop
4. A necklace, chain
5. A company, social gathering, group
6. (Medieval Latin) A calendrical cycle

   Huius sexto anno primus Dionisi circulus inchoat

   In the sixth year of which [reign], the first cycle of Dionysius begins. — Bede, Chronica Minora

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	circulus	circulī
Genitive	circulī	circulōrum
Dative	circulō	circulīs
Accusative	circulum	circulōs
Ablative	circulō	circulīs
Vocative	circule	circulī

Related terms

• circā
• circiter
• circulō
• circulor
• circum
• circus

Descendants

• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: cerchio
    • → Aromanian: tserclju, tserchiu, tserkiu
  • Sicilian: circhiu, chirchiu
  • Tuscan: chiercio (Lucca)
• Padanian:
  • Friulian: cercli
  • Ligurian: çèrcio
  • Lombard: sercc
  • Piedmontese: sercc
  • Romansch: tschierchel
  • Venetan: cercio, sercio, sércio
• Northern Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: cercllo
  • Old French: cercle
    • French: cercle
      • Haitian Creole: sèk
    • Norman: cèrcl'ye (Jersey)
    • Walloon: ceke
    • → Middle English: cercle, circle (Latin-influenced)
      • English: circle
      • Scots: circle
• Southern Gallo-Romance:
  • Aragonese: cerclo
  • Catalan: cercle, cèrcol
  • Old Occitan: cercle, sercle, selcle
    • Occitan: cercle, ceucle
• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian: chìlciu
• Ancient borrowings:
  • → Albanian: qarkull
  • → Basque: curcuru
  • → Proto-Brythonic:
    • Breton: kelc'h
    • Cornish: kelgh
    • Old Welsh: circhl
      • Welsh: cylch

Learned borrowings:

• → British isles:
  • Old English: ċircul
  • Old Irish: circul
    • Middle Irish: circul
      • Irish: ciorcal
      • Manx: kiarkyl
      • Scottish Gaelic: cearcall
• → Germany and environs:
  • Afrikaans: sirkel
  • Danish: cirkel
  • Dutch: cirkel
  • German: Zirkel
    • → Old Slovak: cirkeľ
      • Pannonian Rusyn: циркель (cirkelʹ)
    • → Polish: cyrkiel
    • → Russian: циркуль (cirkulʹ)
  • Limburgish: cirkel
  • Norwegian: sirkel
  • Swedish: cirkel
• → Iberia:
  • Asturian: círculu
  • Basque: zirkulu
  • Galician: círculo
  • Portuguese: círculo
  • Spanish: círculo
    • → Catalan: círcol
• → Italy and environs:
  • Dalmatian: circol
  • Friulian: circul
  • Italian: circolo
  • Romansch: circul
  • Sardinian: círculu, tzírculu

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “cĭrcŭlus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 2: C Q K, page 703

Further reading

• “circulus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “circulus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• circulus 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)
• circulus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.