circa
French, preposition/siʁ.ka/
circa is spelled C-I-R-C-A (5 letters) and appears about once in every 2 million words in written French, the 42,227th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Circa is a French preposition meaning “approximately, about” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “À peu près, aux environs de, vers”.
What does circa mean in English?
preposition
- 1
approximately, about
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
preposition: 1. À peu près, aux environs de, vers.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
How do you pronounce circa?
- /siʁ.ka/
- \siʁ.ka\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
How common is circa in French?
circa appears about once in every 2 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).