Meaning

8 senses
  1. A traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, and other novelty acts, that gives shows usually in a circular tent.

    The circus will be in town next week.

    Zirkus

    циркcirk

    циркcyrk

    a performance given by a traveling company of acrobats, clowns, and trained animals

  2. 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.

    кру́глая пло́щадьkrúglaja plóščadʹ

  3. (figuratively)A spectacle; a noisy fuss; a chaotic and/or crowded place.

  4. (dated, slang)An undertaking or arrangement.

  5. (collective, rare)A group of puffins.

  6. (historical)In the ancient Roman Empire, a building for chariot racing.

  7. 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.

  8. (obsolete)Circuit; space; enclosure.

Examples

119 sentences
  1. The children chased after the circus parade.

    Діти ганялися за парадом цирку.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  2. Why don't we go to the circus tomorrow?

    Чому б нам завтра не піти у цирк?

    deGehen wir doch morgen mal in den Zirkus!

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  3. Life is one big circus.

    Життя — один великий цирк.

    ruЖизнь - один большой цирк.

    deDas Leben ist ein großer Zirkus.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  4. The circus is in town.

    Цирк у місті.

    ruЦирк в городе.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CM · B1Open on TatoebaReport a problem
  5. I enjoyed watching the circus parade.

    CC BY · Tatoeba · CK · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

9 languages
Українська
By meaning 1
company that travels:
Русский
By meaning 2
company that travels:
round open space:
Deutsch
By meaning 1
company that travels:

Origin

From Middle English circus, circo, from Latin circus (“ring, circle”), from Ancient Greek

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”).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: circuses

Synonyms

2 synonyms
Close in meaning
  • a frenetic disorganized (and often comic) disturbance suggestive of a large public entertainment:carnival
  • a genus of haws comprising the harriers:genus Circus

Word family

22 related words

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
circus — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto