# circus

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈsɜːkəs/ · frequency rank #7,319

## Definitions
1. A traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, and other novelty acts, that gives shows usually in a circular tent.
2. A round open space in a town or city where multiple streets meet.
3. A spectacle; a noisy fuss; a chaotic and/or crowded place.
4. In the ancient Roman Empire, a building for chariot racing.
5. A code name for bomber attacks with fighter escorts in the day time. The attacks were against short-range targets with the intention of occupying enemy fighters and keeping their fighter units in the area concerned.
6. Circuit; space; enclosure.

## 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **Cyrus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/circus-vs-cyrus)
- **corpus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/circus-vs-corpus)
- **citrus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/circus-vs-citrus)
- **cirque** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/circus-vs-cirque)
- **cirrus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/circus-vs-cirrus)
- **circa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/circa-vs-circus)
- **circle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/circle-vs-circus)
- **caucus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/caucus-vs-circus)
- **circuit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/circuit-vs-circus)
- **circles** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/circles-vs-circus)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ccircus`, `cicrus`, `circcus`, `circsu`, `circuss`, `cirrcus`, `cirucs`, `cricus`, `icrcus`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/circus