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Webster 1913 Edition


Circuit

Cir′cuit

,
Noun.
[F.
circuit
, fr. L.
circuitus
, fr.
circuire
or
circumire
to go around;
circum
around +
ire
to go.]
1.
The act of moving or revolving around, or as in a circle or orbit; a revolution;
as, the periodical
circuit
of the earth round the sun
.
Watts.
2.
The circumference of, or distance round, any space; the measure of a line round an area.
The
circuit
or compass of Ireland is 1,800 miles.
J. Stow.
3.
That which encircles anything, as a ring or crown.
The golden
circuit
on my head.
Shakespeare
4.
The space inclosed within a circle, or within limits.
A
circuit
wide inclosed with goodliest trees.
Milton.
5.
A regular or appointed journeying from place to place in the exercise of one’s calling, as of a judge, or a preacher.
6.
(a)
(Law)
A certain division of a state or country, established by law for a judge or judges to visit, for the administration of justice.
Bouvier
.
(b)
(Methodist Church)
A district in which an itinerant preacher labors.
7.
Circumlocution.
[Obs.]
“Thou hast used no circuit of words.”
Huloet.
Circuit court
(Law)
,
a court which sits successively in different places in its circuit (see
Circuit
, 6). In the United States, the federal circuit courts are commonly presided over by a judge of the supreme court, or a special
circuit judge
, together with the judge of the district court. They have jurisdiction within statutory limits, both in law and equity, in matters of federal cognizance. Some of the individual States also have circuit courts, which have general statutory jurisdiction of the same class, in matters of State cognizance.
Circuit of action
or
Circuity of action
(Law)
,
a longer course of proceedings than is necessary to attain the object in view.
To make a circuit
,
to go around; to go a roundabout way.
Voltaic circle
or
Galvanic circle
or
Voltaic circuit
or
Galvanic circuit
,
a continous electrical communication between the two poles of a battery; an arrangement of voltaic elements or couples with proper conductors, by which a continuous current of electricity is established.

Cir′cuit

,
Verb.
I.
To move in a circle; to go round; to circulate.
[Obs.]
J. Philips.

Cir′cuit

,
Verb.
T.
To travel around.
[Obs.]
“Having circuited the air.”
T. Warton.

Webster 1828 Edition


Circuit

CIRCUIT

, n.
1.
The act of moving or passing round; as the periodical circuit of the earth round the sun, or of the moon round the earth.

Definition 2024


circuit

circuit

English

Noun

circuit (plural circuits)

  1. The act of moving or revolving around, or as in a circle or orbit; a revolution; as, the periodical circuit of the earth around the sun.
  2. The circumference of, or distance around, any space; the measure of a line around an area.
    • (Can we date this quote?), John Stow, (Please provide the title of the work):
      So the circuit or compass of Ireland is 1,800 miles, which is 200 less than Caesar doth reckon or account.
  3. That which encircles anything, as a ring or crown.
    • 1590, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part II, Act III, Scene I, line 351:
      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.
    • 1592, William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis, Stanza 39, line 229:
      "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.
    • 1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost:
      A circuit wide enclosed with goodliest trees.
  5. (electricity) Enclosed path of an electric current, usually designed for a certain function.
  6. A regular or appointed journeying from place to place in the exercise of one's calling, as of a judge or a preacher.
  7. (law) The jurisdiction of certain judges within a state or country, whether itinerant or not.
  8. (historical) Various administrative divisions of imperial and early Republican China, including:
    1. The counties at the fringes of the empire, usually with a non-Chinese population, from the Han to the Western Jin.
    2. The 10 or so major provinces of the empire from the Tang to the early Yuan.
    3. Major provincial divisions from the Yuan to early Republican China.
  9. (law) Abbreviation of circuit court.
  10. (Methodist Church) A district in which an itinerant preacher labors.
  11. By analogy to the proceeding three, a set of theaters among which the same acts circulate; especially common in the heyday of vaudeville.
  12. (obsolete) circumlocution
    • Huloet
      Thou hast used no circuit of words.
  13. (Scientology) A thought that unconsciously goes round and round in a person's mind and controls that person.

Synonyms

  • (Imperial Chinese administrative divisions): dao; lu, route (Later Jin to Song); tao (obsolete)

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

circuit (third-person singular simple present circuits, present participle circuiting, simple past and past participle circuited)

  1. (intransitive, obsolete) To move in a circle; to go round; to circulate.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of J. Philips to this entry?)
  2. (obsolete) To travel around.
    Having circuited the air.

Catalan

Noun

circuit m (plural circuits)

  1. circuit

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sɪrˈkʋi/
  • Rhymes: -i

Noun

circuit n (plural circuits, diminutive circuitje n)

  1. (sports) racetrack
  2. (physics) electric circuit
  3. (figuratively) exclusive group of individuals, clique, circle

Synonyms


French

Etymology

From Latin

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /siʁ.kɥi/

Noun

circuit m (plural circuits)

  1. circuit

Latin

Pronunciation

  • (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈkir.ku.it/, [ˈkɪr.kʊ.ɪt]

Verb

circuit

  1. third-person singular present active indicative of circueō

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowing from French circuit and Latin circuitus.

Noun

circuit n (plural circuite)

  1. circuit

Declension

Related terms