cirque

/sɜːk/

//sɜːk// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"cirque" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cirque” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #30,366. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#30,366
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A Roman circus.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cirque · cirque · English

cirque · rank #30,366 · 8 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #30,366
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH cinder

Nearest frequency peer: cinder (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “cirque”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “cirque” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

cirque vs clique
67% similar
cirque vs cirrus
67% similar
cirque vs circle
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for cirque
PropertyValue
Headwordcirque
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/sɜːk/
Letters6
Frequency rank#30,366
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “cirque”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).cirquelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “cinder” (#30,365), “coax” (#30,368), “chisel” (#30,363). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cirque” is #30,366. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around cirque (IPA /sɜːk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #30,366 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for cirque, with forms such as "ccirque", "ciqrue", and "cirqeu". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "clique", "cirrus", "circle", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French cirque (“circular arena; cirque”), from Latin circus (“circle, ring”), from Ancient Greek κίρκος (kírkos, “circle, ring; racecourse, circus”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to bend; to turn”). Doublet of circus. The correct English form is cirque, spelled C-I-R-Q-U-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A Roman circus.
  2. 2
    A curved depression or natural amphitheatre, especially one in a mountainside at the end of a valley.
  3. 3
    Something in the shape of a circle or ring.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how cirque appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Nero exhibited theſe Spectacles in his own Gardens, impiouſly joining to them the Diverſions of the Cirque, and appearing himſelf publicly in the Habit of a Charioteer, ſitting in his Chariot[…].
  2. Whose savage trample thus could pad the dank / Soil to a plash? toads in a poisoned tank, / Or wild cats in a red-hot iron cage— / The fight must so have seemed in that fell cirque.

Etymology

Borrowed from French cirque (“circular arena; cirque”), from Latin circus (“circle, ring”), from Ancient Greek κίρκος (kírkos, “circle, ring; racecourse, circus”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to bend; to turn”). Doublet of circus.

This word in other languages

cirque(Français)Kar(Deutsch)circo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccirque
  • ciqrue
  • cirqeu
  • cirqque
  • cirrque
  • ciruqe
  • crique
  • icrque

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cirque - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ccirque1ciqrue2cirqeu2cirqque1cirrque1ciruqe2crique2icrque2
Edit distance from "cirque"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cirque"?
"cirque" is spelled C-I-R-Q-U-E. The IPA pronunciation is /sɜːk/.
What does "cirque" mean?
As a noun, "cirque" means: A Roman circus.
What words are commonly confused with "cirque"?
"cirque" is commonly confused with "clique", "cirrus", "circle". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cirque"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cirque" is /sɜːk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "cirque"?
Borrowed from French cirque (“circular arena; cirque”), from Latin circus (“circle, ring”), from Ancient Greek κίρκος (kírkos, “circle, ring; racecourse, circus”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to bend; to turn”). Doublet... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cirque", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

cinder#30,365chisel#30,363condor#30,375culver#30,385

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

chasm8 variantsCymru8 variantsbionic8 variantsDolby8 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list