Circular

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈsɜː.kjə.lə(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. Having the form of a circle or relating to a motion that is round, as well as describing something that involves a return to its origin
2. Pertaining to a shape that is round or a movement that follows a curved path, while also indicating a process that cycles back to an initial position
3. Having the shape of a round figure ; progressing along a curved route ; involving a process that loops back to where it began

Etymology: The adjective "circular" carries its geometry on its face, but its ancestry runs through a Roman word for a ring that was itself a shrunken version of a much larger one. Latin "circus" meant "ring" or "circle," and the Romans added the diminutive ending "-ulus" to make "circulus," a little ring. Late Latin then formed "circularis" from it, and the word passed into Old French as "circulier," later "circulaire," before arriving in Middle English in the forms "circuler" and "circulere." The Latin "circus" that gave rise to this family was the same word that later named the great Roman arena for chariot races, a shape that the English word "circus" kept when it came to describe a traveling show under a round tent. The English adjective is therefore a close relative of the entertainment term, both descending from one Latin noun for a ring.

Synonyms: round, ring-shaped, spherical, orbicular, disc-shaped

Antonyms: linear, straight, non-circular, angular, polygonal