circuit

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circuit¹

  • /ˈsɜː.kɪt/ UK
  • /ˈsɝ.kɪt/ US
  • /ˈsɜ(ɾ).kɪʈ/ South Asia
  • /sə(ɾ)ˈkjuʈ/ South Asia, proscribed

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)kɪt

Where it comes from

From Middle English circuit, from Old French circuit, from Latin circuitus (“a going round”), from circuire (“go round”), from circum (“around”) + ire.

noun circuits

  1. The act of moving or revolving around, or as in a circle or orbit; a revolution After 27 days the moon has made one circuit among the stars, moving from west to east. But in those 27 days the sun has likewise moved eastwardly, about 27 degrees. The moon, then, has to make one circuit and a little more in order to be again in the line joining the earth and sun, in order to be ag
  2. The circumference of, or distance around, any space; the measure of a line around an area. Circuit of the wall from the east to the West

    Similar: periplus

  3. That which encircles anything, as a ring or crown. And this fell tempest shall not cease to rage Until the golden circuit on my head, Like to the glorious sun's transparent beams, Do calm the fury of this mad-bred flaw.
  4. The space enclosed within a circle, or within limits. "Fondling," she saith, "since I have hemm'd thee here Within the circuit of this ivory pale, I'll be a park, and thou shalt be my deer: Feed where thou wilt, on mountain, or in dale; Graze on my lips; and if those hills be dry, Stray lower, where the pleasant fountains lie."
  5. Enclosed path of an electric current, usually designed for a certain function. The parts within these series and parallel sub-circuits may be arranged in different ways without changing what the circuit does. Large circuits are made of combinations of smaller series and parallel circuits.
  6. A regular or appointed trip from place to place as part of one's job Having cut his teeth on London's take-no-prisoners comedy circuit he can handle hecklers too, sometimes with musical accompaniment; recent shows see him armed with a veritable chamber orchestra's worth of instruments, all of which he plays.
  7. The jurisdiction of certain judges within a state or country, whether itinerant or not.
  8. abbreviation Abbreviation of circuit court
  9. The basic grouping of local Methodist churches.
  10. A set of theaters among which the same acts circulate; especially common in the heyday of vaudeville.
  11. A track on which a race is held; a racetrack Interlagos is the 24th track Hamilton has won at in F1, which is more than any other driver in history. The only circuit on the current calendar that Hamilton hasn’t won at is Baku, which only joined the schedule this year.
  12. obsolete circumlocution circuite of words.
  13. A thought that unconsciously goes round and round in a person's mind and controls that person.
  14. A closed trail.
  15. A chain of cinemas/movie theaters. Mike Patrick commented on a theater chain he was considering buying and converting to 99 ¢ theaters with multiplex screens: I'm looking at a circuit of theaters in a major metropolitan area. Now the owner hasn't told me that it is for sale yet.
  16. A single completion of all of the exercises in a circuit training regime.

verb circuits · circuiting · circuited

  1. intransitive, obsolete To move in a circle; to go round; to circulate. perpetual Motion keep, / Quick circuiting ; nor dare they close their Eyes
  2. obsolete, transitive To travel around. Having circuited the air.

circuit²

  • /ˈsɜː.kɪt/ UK
  • /ˈsɝ.kɪt/ US
  • /ˈsɜ(ɾ).kɪʈ/ South Asia
  • /sə(ɾ)ˈkjuʈ/ South Asia, proscribed

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)kɪt

Where it comes from

A calque of Chinese 道 (dào) or 路 (lù).

noun circuits

  1. historical The counties at the fringes of the empire, usually with a non-Chinese population, from the Han to the Western Jin.
  2. historical The 10 or so major provinces of the empire from the Tang to the early Yuan.
  3. historical Major provincial divisions from the Yuan to early Republican China.

Similar: dao, lu, route, tao

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: tour, round, beat, electrical circuit, loop, electric circuit, lap, circle, racing circuit, circulation, rounding, trail, set-up, route, flow, travelling

noun

Similar: dao, lu, route, tao

Translations

Every language

noun act of moving around

Portuguêscircuito, volta
DeutschUmlauf
Ελληνικάτροχιά trochiá, περιστροφή peristrofí
Românăciclu, circuit
Русскийкругооборо́т krugooborót, цикл cikl, враще́ние vraščénije, объе́кт obʺjékt

noun circumference of any space

Portuguêscircuito, perímetro
Ελληνικάπερίμετρος perímetros
Русскийокру́жность okrúžnostʹ, пери́метр perímetr

noun that which encircles

Portuguêscontorno

noun space enclosed within a circle

Русскийкруг krug

noun enclosed path of electric current

Españolcircuito
한국어회로 hoero
日本語回路 kairo
中文電路 /电路 diànlù, 線路 /线路 xiànlù, 回路 huílù
हिन्दीपरिपथ paripath
Portuguêscircuito
Françaiscircuit
DeutschSchaltkreis
Ελληνικάκύκλωμα kýkloma
Românăcircuit
Русскийцепь cepʹ
العربيةدَارَة dāra

noun regular or appointed journeying

Portuguêscircuito
Русскийобъе́зд obʺjézd, обхо́д obxód

noun legal: division of a state or country

DeutschBezirk
Ελληνικάπεριφέρεια periféreia

noun racetrack

Españolcircuito (de carreras)

noun graph theory: closed trail

DeutschZyklus

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Cite this
MLA

"circuit." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/circuit. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

circuit. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/circuit

Chicago

"circuit." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/circuit.

BibTeX
@misc{circuit_2026,
  title = {circuit},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/circuit},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}