Circuses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A public entertainment event featuring a mix of performances like acrobatics, juggling, and clown acts, often presented within a large tent
2. An organized display of various performing arts, involving entertainers such as clowns, acrobats, and animal trainers, typically held in a big-top setting
3. A spectacle where acrobats, clowns, and animals perform for an audience ; a circular junction where roads meet and traffic moves around a central island

Etymology: The plural "circuses" is simply the regular plural of "circus," so its history is the history of that noun. The word came into Middle English from Latin "circus," meaning "ring" or "circle," which in turn was borrowed from Greek "kríkos," also meaning "ring." Behind the Greek lies an ancient root meaning "to bend or turn," the same root that gave English the word "ring" through Old English "hring." In other words, the spectacle and the traffic junction both began as nothing more than a circle. The Latin "circus" was a doublet of "cirque," a relative that entered English through French and kept the same ring-shaped sense. The Roman circus was an oval racecourse where chariots raced around a central barrier, so the shape of the arena gave the word its meaning long before any clowns appeared.

Synonyms: carnivals, fairs, festivals, exhibitions, shows

Antonyms: seriousness, soberness, gravity, formality, dignity