circa

See also: Circa

English

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circa.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɜːkə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɝkə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• 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 / 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. (el) (per.)
• Hebrew: בקירוב (be'qiruv), בסביבות (be'svivot)
• Icelandic: um það bil (is), circa (is), 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)
• Macedonian: о́колу (ókolu), при́ближно (príbližno), ци́рка (círka)
• Norwegian: cirka (no)
• Persian: حوالی (fa) (havâli-ye)
• Polish: circa (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)
• Thai: ประมาณ (th) (bprà-maan)
• Tibetan: ཡས་མས (yas mas)
• Turkish: aşağı yukarı (tr)
• Udmurt: ог (og)
• Volapük: za (vo)

See also

• circum-

Anagrams

• ARCIC, Ricca, craic

Czech

Alternative forms

• cirka

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈt͡sɪrka]

Adverb

circa

1. circa, approximately

   Synonym: cca

Further reading

• “circa”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “circa”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

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

   Synonyms: grofweg, pakweg, omstreeks, ongeveer, plusminus, ruwweg, zo'n, pak hem beet

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /siʁ.ka/

Preposition

circa

1. approximately, about

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

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circā.

Pronunciation

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

Preposition

circa

1. regarding, concerning

Adverb

circa

1. about, approximately

Anagrams

• craci, ricca

Latin

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

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

The accusative is from the adverbial derivation.

Adverb

circā (not comparable)

1. around; about
2. on both sides

Preposition

circā (+ accusative)

1. around; near; about
   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, 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. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, 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 (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) 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 (Medieval Latin)

1. patrol, watch
2. episcopal visit
3. inquiry, inquest
4. defensive enclosure, moat

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin circā.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡sir.ka/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -irka
• Syllabification: cir‧ca

Particle

circa

1. (literary) circa, nearly, almost (in close approximation)

   Synonyms: blisko, koło, mniej więcej, niespełna, niemal, około, prawie, w przybliżeniu

   Na świecie żyje circa 9 mld ludzi. ― There are circa 9 billion people in the world.

Further reading

• circa in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• circa in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin circa.

Adverb

circa

1. approximately, about, or so

   Synonym: cam

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin circā.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /ˈθiɾka/ [ˈθiɾ.ka]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /ˈsiɾka/ [ˈsiɾ.ka]
• Rhymes: -iɾka
• Syllabification: cir‧ca

Preposition

circa

1. circa

Further reading

• “circa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10