Circular

How to spell circular

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce circular

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does circular mean?

1. adjectiveHaving the shape of a circle; round, or moving in a loop that returns to the start.
2. nounA printed notice, advertisement, or letter distributed to a large number of people.

Circular in a sentence

• adjective

  The architect designed a circular atrium at the centre of the building.

• noun

  The council posted a circular to every household explaining the new recycling rules.

• adjective

  The report was criticised for its circular reasoning, which kept returning to its own assumption.

• noun

  She binned the supermarket circular without reading the weekly offers.

Where does circular come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the Latin circularis, meaning 'shaped like a ring', which was built on circulus, 'a little ring or circle'. That noun was itself a diminutive of circus, which to the Romans meant a ring, a hoop, or the round arena where races were held, so the literal idea is 'a small circus'. English took the word in during the late 1300s, by way of Old French circuler, first to describe anything round and later to describe arguments or movements that loop back on themselves. By the eighteenth century it had also become a noun for a printed notice meant to be passed around a circle of people, which is why a leaflet sent to many recipients is still called a circular. The same circus root underlies everyday relatives such as 'circle', 'circuit', and 'circulate', and remembering that ring sense helps fix the c-i-r start and the -ar ending rather than -er.

How the word is built

• circ- (ring, from Latin circus/circulus)
• -ul- (diminutive: little ring)
• -ar (forming adjectives, 'relating to')