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📅 About a date 🔢 About a number
circa

circa

35 7.0
About a date or number that is not exact
  • adposition
  • /ˈsɜrkə/
: alrededor de
  • An east-side view of the Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, circa 1994.
  • circa 500 B.C.
  • circa 1900
  • circa 1870

NVIDIA is now playing the role of AMD circa Vega, which is not good.

Examples

  • The earliest known creation myth is probably from Sumer, circa 3000 B.C.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Among the happiest hours of my childhood were those spent alone at home, circa 1925.

    Academic text (1998)

  • A Christian church, circa 5 A.D.

    Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)

  • Those being the favorite "J" names of Beltway parents circa 1981.

    Mindhunters (2004)

  • Our front window is set up as a ten-year-old boy's bedroom, circa 1954.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Very Gene Kelly circa 1945, don't you think?

    I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009)

  • It's a British punk band, circa 1977 to 1983-ish.

    Bring It On (2000)

  • From 1890 to the peak, circa 1920, land values showed dramatic increases at all three scales.

    Academic text (1991)

  • The earliest aqueduct, built circa 1418, involved the construction of artificial islands.

    Academic text (1995)

  • The ancient manuscript was created circa 1500, indicating its historical significance.

Synonyms

circ
vscirca
  • Informal
1 9.0

Appears before a date to show it is about that time

is the standard full form used in historical dates to indicate approximation

How Approximate

roughly
393 1.6
around
∞ 1.0
circa
35 7.0
approximately
471 3.2
about
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

circa main

Etymology

Circa comes from Latin and means 'around' or 'about'. It shares the same root as circle, so when a date is given as circa 500 BCE it means the time is 'around' that year, not exact.