circa

See also: Circa

English

Alternative forms

• ca., ca, or c.; rarely cca. or cir. (abbreviations)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circa.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɜːkə/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɝkə/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)kə
• Hyphenation: cir‧ca

Preposition

circa

1. Approximately, about, around (typically in relation to time)

   Julius Caesar visited this area circa 50 BC.

Translations

approximately, about, around

• Arabic: حَوَالِي‎ (ḥawālī)

  Egyptian Arabic: حوالي‎ (ḥawālī)

• Armenian: մոտ (hy) (mot), մոտավորապես (hy) (motavorapes)
• Bulgarian: около (bg) (okolo), приблизително (bg) (priblizitelno)
• Catalan: circa (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大約 (zh), 大约 (zh) (dàyuē)

• Czech: přibližně (cs), cirka (cs)
• Danish: cirka (da)
• Dutch: circa (nl)
• Esperanto: ĉirkaŭ (eo)
• Faroese: umleið
• Finnish: noin (fi)
• French: (with a measure) environ (fr), (with a date) vers (fr)

• Georgian: დაახლოებით (daaxloebit)
• German: ungefähr (de), etwa (de), um (de), circa (de), zirka (de)
• Greek: περίπου (el) (perípou), περ. (per.)
• Hebrew: בקירוב‎ (be'qiruv)
• Icelandic: um það bil (is), circa, sirka
• Italian: circa (it)
• Japanese: 約… (ja) (yaku), 大体… (ja) (daitai), …位 (ja) (kurai; gurai), …頃 (ja) (…ごろ, goro), およそ… (ja) (oyoso)
• Korean: […] 경(頃) ( […] gyeong), 대략(大略) (ko) (daeryak)
• Norwegian: cirka (no)
• Persian: حوالی‎ (fa) (havâli-ye)
• Polish: około (pl)
• Portuguese: cerca de, aproximadamente (pt)
• Russian: приблизи́тельно (ru) (priblizítelʹno), приме́рно (ru) (primérno), о́коло (ru) (ókolo) (+ genitive case)
• Spanish: cerca de, aproximadamente (es)
• Swedish: cirka (sv)
• Turkish: aşağı yukarı (tr)
• Udmurt: ог (og)

See also

• circum-

Anagrams

• ARCIC, Ricca, craic

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Czech

Alternative forms

• cirka

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈt͡sɪrka]

Adverb

circa

1. circa, approximately

Synonyms

• cca

Further reading

• circa in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• circa in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

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Dutch

Alternative forms

• ca.
• c.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪr.kaː/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cir‧ca

Preposition

circa

1. circa: about, approximately

Adverb

circa

1. circa: about, approximately

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /siʁ.ka/

Preposition

circa

1. approximately, about

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German

Alternative forms

• zirka

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈt͡sɪʁka]

• Audio

  (file)

Adverb

circa

1. circa

   Synonyms: etwa, ungefähr

Further reading

• “circa” in Duden online
• “circa” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “circa” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

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Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃir.ka/
• Rhymes: -irka
• Hyphenation: cìr‧ca

Preposition

circa

1. regarding, concerning

Adverb

circa

1. about, approximately

Anagrams

• craci, ricca

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Latin

Etymology 1

A later form for circum, or from circum + eā.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkir.kaː/, [ˈkɪrkäː]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃir.ka/, [ˈt͡ʃirkä]

Adverb

circā (not comparable)

1. around; about
2. on either sides

Preposition

circā (+ accusative)

1. around; near; about
   • Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita I, 7:

     Circa advenam manifestae reum caedis

     around the stranger accused of open murder

2. regarding, concerning
   • 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Ephesii.6.22:

     quem misi ad vos in hoc ipsum ut cognoscatis quae circa nos sunt et consoletur corda vestra

     Whom I have sent to you for this very thing, so that you can know things that are about us, and so that he can comfort your hearts.

Related terms

• circātor
• circus

Descendants

• Asturian: cerca, cierca
• Catalan: cerca, circa
• Dutch: circa
• English: circa

• French: circa
• German: circa
• Italian: circa
• Norwegian Bokmål: cirka
• Portuguese: cerca

• Romanian: circa
• Sicilian: circa
• Spanish: cerca, circa

References

• “circa”, in Charlton T[homas] Lewis; Charles [Lancaster] Short (1879) […] A New Latin Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.; Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Ill.: American Book Company; Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• “circa”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• circa in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• circa in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• circa in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[1], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• Online Latin dictionary, Olivetti

Etymology 2

Ultimately related to etymology 1. Sense 4 is only attested in the form cerca(s); see there for more.

Noun

circa f (genitive circae); first declension

1. (Medieval Latin) a patrol, watch
2. (Medieval Latin) an episcopal visit
3. (Medieval Latin) an inquiry, inquest
4. (Medieval Latin) a defensive enclosure, moat

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Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circa.

Adverb

circa

1. approximately, about, or so

Synonyms

• cam

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Spanish

Preposition

circa

1. circa

Further reading

• “circa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014