n. (Elec.) A key or other device for breaking an electrical circuit. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Circus. ] An amphitheatrical circle for sports; a circus. [ R. ] T. Warton. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv., prep. [ L. ] Approximately; about; commonly abbreviated ca.; -- used especially before dates and numerical measures; as, he was born circa 1650; ca. 50 feet high.
Syn. -- ca. [ PJC ]

‖n. [ See Sircar. ] A district, or part of a province. See Sircar. [ India ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to Circassia, in Asia. -- n. A native or inhabitant of Circassia. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. Circaeus. ] Having the characteristics of Circe, daughter of Sol and Perseis, a mythological enchantress, who first charmed her victims and then changed them to the forms of beasts; pleasing, but noxious; as, a Circean draught. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. [ L. Circensis, ludi Circenses, the games in the Circus Maximus. ] Of or pertaining to, or held in, the Circus, In Rome. [ 1913 Webster ]

The pleasure of the Circensian shows. Holyday. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_; a circle. ] (Bot.) Circinate. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. circinatus, p. p. of circinare to make round, fr. circinus a pair of compasses, from Gr. &unr_; a circle. ] (Bot.) Rolled together downward, the tip occupying the center; -- a term used in reference to foliation or leafing, as in ferns. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make a circle around; to encompass. [ Obs. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. circinatio circle. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. An orbicular motion. [ Obs. ] bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A circle; a concentric layer. [ Obs. ] “The circinations and spherical rounds of onions.” Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. cercle, F. cercle, fr. L. circulus (Whence also AS. circul), dim. of circus circle, akin to Gr. kri`kos, ki`rkos, circle, ring. Cf. Circus, Circum-. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A plane figure, bounded by a single curve line called its circumference, every part of which is equally distant from a point within it, called the center. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The line that bounds such a figure; a circumference; a ring. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Astron.) An instrument of observation, the graduated limb of which consists of an entire circle. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ When it is fixed to a wall in an observatory, it is called a mural circle; when mounted with a telescope on an axis and in Y's, in the plane of the meridian, a meridian circle or transit circle; when involving the principle of reflection, like the sextant, a reflecting circle; and when that of repeating an angle several times continuously along the graduated limb, a repeating circle. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A round body; a sphere; an orb. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth. Is. xi. 22. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Compass; circuit; inclosure. [ 1913 Webster ]

In the circle of this forest. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A company assembled, or conceived to assemble, about a central point of interest, or bound by a common tie; a class or division of society; a coterie; a set. [ 1913 Webster ]

As his name gradually became known, the circle of his acquaintance widened. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. A circular group of persons; a ring. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. A series ending where it begins, and repeating itself. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thus in a circle runs the peasant's pain. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. (Logic) A form of argument in which two or more unproved statements are used to prove each other; inconclusive reasoning. [ 1913 Webster ]

That heavy bodies descend by gravity; and, again, that gravity is a quality whereby a heavy body descends, is an impertinent circle and teaches nothing. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. Indirect form of words; circumlocution. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Has he given the lie,
In circle, or oblique, or semicircle. J. Fletcher. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. A territorial division or district. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞
The Circles of the Holy Roman Empire, ten in number, were those principalities or provinces which had seats in the German Diet. [ 1913 Webster ]

Azimuth circle. See under Azimuth. --
Circle of altitude (Astron.), a circle parallel to the horizon, having its pole in the zenith; an almucantar. --
Circle of curvature. See Osculating circle of a curve (Below). --
Circle of declination. See under Declination. --
Circle of latitude. (a) (Astron.) A great circle perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic, passing through its poles. (b) (Spherical Projection) A small circle of the sphere whose plane is perpendicular to the axis. --
Circles of longitude, lesser circles parallel to the ecliptic, diminishing as they recede from it. --
Circle of perpetual apparition, at any given place, the boundary of that space around the elevated pole, within which the stars never set. Its distance from the pole is equal to the latitude of the place. --
Circle of perpetual occultation, at any given place, the boundary of the space around the depressed pole, within which the stars never rise. --
Circle of the sphere, a circle upon the surface of the sphere, called a great circle when its plane passes through the center of the sphere; in all other cases, a small circle. --
Diurnal circle. See under Diurnal. --
Dress circle, a gallery in a theater, generally the one containing the prominent and more expensive seats. --
Druidical circles (Eng. Antiq.), a popular name for certain ancient inclosures formed by rude stones circularly arranged, as at Stonehenge, near Salisbury. --
Family circle, a gallery in a theater, usually one containing inexpensive seats. --
Horary circles (Dialing), the lines on dials which show the hours. --
Osculating circle of a curve (Geom.), the circle which touches the curve at some point in the curve, and close to the point more nearly coincides with the curve than any other circle. This circle is used as a measure of the curvature of the curve at the point, and hence is called circle of curvature. --
Pitch circle. See under Pitch. --
Vertical circle, an azimuth circle. --
Voltaic circuit or
Voltaic circle. See under Circuit. --
To square the circle. See under Square.

Syn. -- Ring; circlet; compass; circuit; inclosure. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Circled p. pr. & vb. n. Circling ] [ OE. cerclen, F. cercler, fr. L. circulare to make round. See Circle, n., and cf. Circulate. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To move around; to revolve around. [ 1913 Webster ]

Other planets circle other suns. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To encompass, as by a circle; to surround; to inclose; to encircle. Prior. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Their heads are circled with a short turban. Dampier. [ 1913 Webster ]

So he lies, circled with evil. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

To circle in, to confine; to hem in; to keep together; as, to circle bodies in. Sir K. Digby. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To move circularly; to form a circle; to circulate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thy name shall circle round the gaping through. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having the form of a circle; round. “Monthly changes in her circled orb.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A mean or inferior poet, perhaps from his habit of wandering around as a stroller; an itinerant poet. Also, a name given to the cyclic poets. See under Cyclic, a. [ Obs. ] B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A little circle; esp., an ornament for the person, having the form of a circle; that which encircles, as a ring, a bracelet, or a headband. [ 1913 Webster ]

Her fair locks in circlet be enrolled. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A round body; an orb. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fairest of stars . . . that crown'st the smiling morn
With thy bright circlet. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A circular piece of wood put under a dish at table. [ Prov. Eng. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Cirsocele. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To travel around. [ Obs. ] “Having circuited the air.” T. Warton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. circuit, fr. L. circuitus, fr. circuire or circumire to go around; circum around + ire to go. ] 1. The act of moving or revolving around, or as in a circle or orbit; a revolution; as, the periodical circuit of the earth round the sun. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The circumference of, or distance round, any space; the measure of a line round an area. [ 1913 Webster ]

The circuit or compass of Ireland is 1, 800 miles. J. Stow. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which encircles anything, as a ring or crown. [ 1913 Webster ]

The golden circuit on my head. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The space inclosed within a circle, or within limits. [ 1913 Webster ]

A circuit wide inclosed with goodliest trees. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A regular or appointed journeying from place to place in the exercise of one's calling, as of a judge, or a preacher. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (a) (Law) A certain division of a state or country, established by law for a judge or judges to visit, for the administration of justice. Bouvier. (b) (Methodist Church) A district in which an itinerant preacher labors. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Circumlocution. [ Obs. ] “Thou hast used no circuit of words.” Huloet. [ 1913 Webster ]

Circuit court (Law), a court which sits successively in different places in its circuit (see Circuit, 6). In the United States, the federal circuit courts are commonly presided over by a judge of the supreme court, or a special circuit judge, together with the judge of the district court. They have jurisdiction within statutory limits, both in law and equity, in matters of federal cognizance. Some of the individual States also have circuit courts, which have general statutory jurisdiction of the same class, in matters of State cognizance. --
Circuit of action or
Circuity of action (Law), a longer course of proceedings than is necessary to attain the object in view. --
To make a circuit, to go around; to go a roundabout way. --
Voltaic circle or
Galvanic circle or
Voltaic circuit or
Galvanic circuit, a continous electrical communication between the two poles of a battery; an arrangement of voltaic elements or couples with proper conductors, by which a continuous current of electricity is established. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To move in a circle; to go round; to circulate. [ Obs. ] J. Philips. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Elec.) A device contained within an electrical circuit designed to interrupt the circuit when the current exceeds a preset value; it is sometimes called a contact breaker. Its function is to prevent fire or damage to the circuit or the devices on the circuit which could be caused by excess current, such as that caused by a short-circuit. It differs from a fuse in not having a conducting element which melts (see 2nd fuse, n.). Circuit breakers are designed to be easily reset, i. e. to reclose the circuit after it has been opened by the circuit breaker; this is usually accomplished by simply moving a switch back and forth. They are commonly used in buildings to protect individual electrical lines, and are often contained in groups within a box called a circuit breaker panel, which divides the current from a main electrical line into multiple circuits each protected by a separate circuit breaker. Less commonly they may be found on individual devices. [ PJC ]

n. A circuiter. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who travels a circuit, as a circuit judge. [ R. ] R. Whitlock. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. circuitio. See Circuit. ] The act of going round; circumlocution. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ LL. circuitosus. ] Going round in a circuit; roundabout; indirect; as, a circuitous road; a circuitous manner of accomplishing an end. -- Cir*cu"i*tous*ly, adv. -- Cir*cu"i*tous*ness, n.

Syn. -- Tortuous; winding; sinuous; serpentine. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A going round in a circle; a course not direct; a roundabout way of proceeding. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. That may be circulated. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. circularis, fr. circulus circle: cf. F. circulaire. See Circle. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. In the form of, or bounded by, a circle; round. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. repeating itself; ending in itself; reverting to the point of beginning; hence, illogical; inconclusive; as, circular reasoning. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Adhering to a fixed circle of legends; cyclic; hence, mean; inferior. See Cyclic poets, under Cyclic. [ 1913 Webster ]

Had Virgil been a circular poet, and closely adhered to history, how could the Romans have had Dido? Dennis. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Addressed to a circle, or to a number of persons having a common interest; circulated, or intended for circulation; as, a circular letter. [ 1913 Webster ]

A proclamation of Henry III., . . . doubtless circular throughout England. Hallam. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Perfect; complete. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A man so absolute and circular
In all those wished-for rarities that may take
A virgin captive. Massinger. [ 1913 Webster ]

Circular are, any portion of the circumference of a circle. --
Circular cubics (Math.), curves of the third order which are imagined to pass through the two circular points at infinity. --
Circular functions. (Math.) See under Function. --
Circular instruments, mathematical instruments employed for measuring angles, in which the graduation extends round the whole circumference of a circle, or 360°. --
Circular lines, straight lines pertaining to the circle, as sines, tangents, secants, etc. --
Circular note
or Circular letter. (a) (Com.) See under Credit. (b) (Diplomacy) A letter addressed in identical terms to a number of persons. --
Circular numbers (Arith.), those whose powers terminate in the same digits as the roots themselves; as 5 and 6, whose squares are 25 and 36. Bailey. Barlow. --
Circular points at infinity (Geom.), two imaginary points at infinite distance through which every circle in the plane is, in the theory of curves, imagined to pass. --
Circular polarization. (Min.) See under Polarization. --
Circular sailing or
Globular sailing (Naut.), the method of sailing by the arc of a great circle. --
Circular saw. See under Saw. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. (for sense 1) F. circulaire, lettre circulaire. See Circular, a. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A circular letter, or paper, usually printed, copies of which are addressed or given to various persons; as, a business circular. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A sleeveless cloak, cut in circular form. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. circularitas. ] The quality or state of being circular; a circular form. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. knit on a circular form so as to have no seams; -- said of stockings. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. In a circular manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Circular; illogical. [ Obs. & . ] “Cross and circulary speeches.” Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Circulated; p. pr. & vb. n. Circulating. ] [ L. circulatus, p. p. of circulare, v. t., to surround, make round, circulari, v. i., to gather into a circle. See Circle. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To move in a circle or circuitously; to move round and return to the same point; as, the blood circulates in the body. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To pass from place to place, from person to person, or from hand to hand; to be diffused; as, money circulates; a story circulates. [ 1913 Webster ]

Circulating decimal. See Decimal. --
Circulating library, a library whose books are loaned to the public, usually at certain fixed rates. --
Circulating medium. See Medium. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To cause to pass from place to place, or from person to person; to spread; as, to circulate a report; to circulate bills of credit. [ 1913 Webster ]

Circulating pump. See under Pump.

Syn. -- To spread; diffuse; propagate; disseminate. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. moving or flowing in a circuit and returning to the same point; as, steam circulating through the pipes; the circulating thyroid hormones. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. passing from one to another. [ prenominal ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. circulatio: cf. F. circulation. ] 1. The act of moving in a circle, or in a course which brings the moving body to the place where its motion began. [ 1913 Webster ]

This continual circulation of human things. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of passing from place to place or person to person; free diffusion; transmission. [ 1913 Webster ]

The true doctrines of astronomy appear to have had some popular circulation. Whewell. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Currency; circulating coin; notes, bills, etc., current for coin. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The extent to which anything circulates or is circulated; the measure of diffusion; as, the circulation of a newspaper. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Physiol.) The movement of the blood in the blood-vascular system, by which it is brought into close relations with almost every living elementary constituent. Also, the movement of the sap in the vessels and tissues of plants. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Promoting circulation; circulating. [ R. ] Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. L. circulator a peddler. ] One who, or that which, circulates. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Travelling from house to house or from town to town; itinerant. [ Obs. ] “Circulatorious jugglers.” Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. circulatorius pert. to a mountebank: cf. F. circulatoire. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Circular; as, a circulatory letter. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Circulating, or going round. T. Warton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Anat.) Subserving the purposes of circulation; as, circulatory organs; of or pertaining to the organs of circulation; as, circulatory diseases. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A chemical vessel consisting of two portions unequally exposed to the heat of the fire, and with connecting pipes or passages, through which the fluid rises from the overheated portion, and descends from the relatively colder, maintaining a circulation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A circlet. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Proceeding in a circle; circular. [ Obs. ] “With motion circuline”. Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Akin to circle, circus. ] A Latin preposition, used as a prefix in many English words, and signifying around or about. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. circum + agitate. ] To agitate on all sides. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. circum- + ambage, obs. sing. of ambages. ] A roundabout or indirect course; indirectness. [ Obs. ] S. Richardson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of surrounding or encompassing. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. circum- + ambient. ] Surrounding; inclosing or being on all sides; encompassing. “The circumambient heaven.” J. Armstrong. [ 1913 Webster ]