circus

Meaning

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.
2. A round open space in a town or city where multiple streets meet.
3. A spectacle; a noisy fuss; a chaotic and/or crowded place.
4. In the ancient Roman Empire, a building for chariot racing.
5. 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.
6. (obsolete) Circuit; space; enclosure.

carnival

race-course

circus tent

equestrian feats

circular place

traffic rotary

amphitheater

round top

big top

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈsɜːkəs/

Borrowed from Latin circus (“ring, circle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-, *ker- (“to turn, to bend”). Doublet of cirque. Displaced native Old English hringsetl (literally “ring seat”).

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