English
circannual
Circannual comes from Latin circā ‘about’, and goes back to circus ‘circle, ring’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcircus‘circle, ring’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcircum‘about, around’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcircā‘about’
- Englishearliest quotation 1956circannual
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcircus‘circle, ring’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcircum‘about, around’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcircā‘about’
- Englishearliest quotation 1956circannual
Earliest quotation: 1956, USAF School of Aerospace Medicine, Report [80-114]: “[…] because morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease also…”
Formed from circā ‘about’ + annual
Latin annus ‘year’
Latin annuus ‘yearly’
Late Latin annuālis ‘yearly’
Middle English annuel
English annual
The story
Formed as Latin circā (‘about’) + annual, after circadian.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to turn, bend’
short, across, share, cross, screen, card, score, cancer, shirt, curve, crucial, scare, curb, skirt, scrutiny, shrine, crest, scar, carnival, cancellation, corona, shear, scorpion, shred, raffle, corolla, carnage, incarceration, scorn, shrewd, crux, shard, crepe, corgi, ruck, riddance, shrew, scurvy, carcinoma, carnivorous, 112 more
through Latin circus ‘circle, ring’
circle, circulation, circus, circulate, cirque, circulatory, 14 more
through Latin circum ‘about, around’
Today it means
adj Of biological processes: having or occurring in annual cycles or periods
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin circus / circannual