## Meanings
1. A traveling show with acrobats, clowns, and trained animals, usually held in a large tent.
2. A noisy, chaotic, and confusing situation.
3. A round open space in a town or city where several streets meet.

## Examples
- The children always love to go to the circus.
- The press turned the trial into a complete circus.
- Oxford Circus in London is at the north end of Regent Street.

## Derived Forms
- anticircus
- circus-goer
- circusgoer
- circusiana
- circusless
- circuslike
- circusy
- noncircus

## Related Forms
- circle
- circular

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *(s)ker- (turn)
- Root: circus
- Root: κρίκος
- Root: *(s)ker-

## Etymology
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”).

## AI Etymology
circus is a noun. It is 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”). Historical forms in the chain include *(s)ker- (turn) (Proto-Indo-European), circus (Middle English), circus (Latin), κρίκος (Ancient Greek), and *(s)ker- (Proto-Indo-European). Current senses include a traveling show with acrobats, clowns, and trained animals, usually held in a large tent, a noisy, chaotic, and confusing situation, and a round open space in a town or city where several streets meet. Derived forms include anticircus, circus-goer, circusgoer, circusiana, and circusless. Related words include circle and circular.

## Topics
- Places & Geography

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