circus

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A traveling show with acrobats, clowns, and trained animals, usually held in a large tent.

   The children always love to go to the circus.

2. 2
   noun

   A noisy, chaotic, and confusing situation.

   The press turned the trial into a complete circus.

3. 3
   noun

   A round open space in a town or city where several streets meet.

   Oxford Circus in London is at the north end of Regent Street.

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”).

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