# cirque

> English word · Noun · IPA /sɜːk/ · frequency rank #30,366

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

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **clique** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cirque-vs-clique)
- **cirrus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cirque-vs-cirrus)
- **circle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/circle-vs-cirque)
- **circus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/circus-vs-cirque)
- **cheque** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cheque-vs-cirque)
- **cinque** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cinque-vs-cirque)

## Common misspellings (8)
`ccirque`, `ciqrue`, `cirqeu`, `cirqque`, `cirrque`, `ciruqe`, `crique`, `icrque`

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