# circus
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English circus, circo, from Latin circus (“ring, circle”), from Ancient Greek κρίκος (kríkos), κίρκος (kírkos, “ring”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to bend, turn”). Doublet of cirque. Cognate with Old English hring (whence English ring) and Old English hringsetl (“circus”, literally “ring-seat”).

### Pronunciation

* Audio (US):(file)
* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈsɜːkəs/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈsɝkəs/
* Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)kəs

### Noun

circus (plural circuses or (rare) circusses or (rare) circi)
* 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.
* 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.
* (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.
* (historical) In the ancient Roman Empire, a building for chariot racing.
* (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.
* (obsolete) Circuit; space; enclosure.
** 1817, Lord Byron, The Lament of Tasso:The narrow circus of my dungeon wall.

#### Coordinate terms

* (open space): concourse

#### Derived terms

* a few clowns short of a circus
* anticircus
* bread and circuses
* circus act
* circus freak
* circusgoer
* circus-goer
* circusiana
* circusless
* circuslike
* circus peanut
* circus ring
* circusy
* contemporary circus
* crap circus
* flea circus
* flying circus
* let's get this circus on the road
* media circus
* new circus
* noncircus
* Piccadilly Circus
* psychedelic circus
* shit circus
* three-ring circus

#### Related terms

* circle
* circular

#### Translations
### Verb

circus (third-person singular simple present circuses or circusses, present participle circusing or circussing, simple past and past participle circused or circussed)
* To take part in a circus; or to be displayed as if in a circus

### References

* ↑ A grammar of modern Indo-European, p. 398, 3rd paragraph
* ↑ The American heritage dictionary of Indo-European roots, p. 78, entry for "(s)ker-3

### Anagrams

* Curcis, Ruccis

## Dutch
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circus.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈsɪr.kʏs/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: cir‧cus

### Noun

circus n (plural circussen, diminutive circusje n)
* circus (company of performers; place where this company performs)

#### Derived terms

* circusartiest
* circusclown
* circusdier
* circusshow
* circustent

#### Descendants

* Afrikaans: sirkus
* → Indonesian: sirkus

### See also

* beestenspel

## Latin
### Etymology

Likely borrowed from Ancient Greek κρίκος (kríkos), κίρκος (kírkos, “ring”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”).

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈkir.kus/, [ˈkɪrkʊs̠]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈt͡ʃir.kus/, [ˈt͡ʃirkus]

### Noun

circus m (genitive circī); second declension
* a circular line or orbit; circle, ring
* a racecourse or space where games are held, especially one that is round
* the spectators in a circus; a circus

#### Declension

Second-declension noun.

#### Derived terms

* circa
* *circa
* circellus
* circinus
* circō
* circulus
* circum

#### Descendants

* Insular Romance:
** Sardinian: circu (Campidanese), chircu (Nuorese)
* Balkano-Romance:
** Megleno-Romanian: țerc
** Romanian: cerc
* Italo-Romance:
** Italian: cerco (archaic, regional)
*** → Sardinian: tzircu
** Sicilian: circu
*** → Maltese: ċirku
* Gallo-Italic:
** Piedmontese: cerc
* Gallo-Romance:
** Norman: cher
** Occitan: cerc
* Ibero-Romance:
** Asturian: cercu
** Galician: cerco
** Portuguese: cerco
** Spanish: cerco
* Ancient borrowings:
** → Albanian: qark
Learned borrowings:
* → Asturian: circu
* → Catalan: circ
* → Dutch: circus (see there for further descendants)
* → English: circus
* → French: cirque (see there for further descendants)
* → Friulian: circ
* → Galician: circo
* → German: Circus, Zirkus (see there for further descendants)
* → Italian: circo
* → Occitan: circ
* → Polish: cyrk
* → Portuguese: circo
* → Romanian: circ
* → Spanish: circo
* → Swedish: cirkus

### References

* Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “cĭrcus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 2: C Q K, page 708
* ↑ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “circus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 115

### Further reading

* “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