Adjacent Words

Circuit definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

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.
2. The space inclosed in a circle, or within certain limits.
3. Any space or extent measured by traveling round.
4. That which encircles; a ring; a diadem.
5. In England, the journey of judges through several counties or boroughs, for the purpose of holding courts. In the United States, the journey of judges through certain states or counties for the same purpose.
6. The counties or states in which the same judge or judges hold courts and administer justice. It is common to designate a certain number of counties to form a circuit, and to assign one or more judges to each circuit. The courts in the circuits are called circuit courts. In the government of the United States, a certain number of states form a circuit.
7. A long deduction of reason.
8. In law, a longer course of proceedings than is necessary to recover the thing sued for.
Bailey gives this as the definition of circuity.
CIRCUIT, v.i. To move in a circle; to go round.
CIRCUIT, v.t. To move or go round.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an electrical device that provides a path for electrical current to flow [syn: circuit, electrical circuit, electric circuit]
2: a journey or route all the way around a particular place or area; "they took an extended tour of Europe"; "we took a quick circuit of the park"; "a ten-day coach circuit of the island" [syn: tour, circuit]
3: an established itinerary of venues or events that a particular group of people travel to; "she's a familiar name on the club circuit"; "on the lecture circuit"; "the judge makes a circuit of the courts in his district"; "the international tennis circuit"
4: the boundary line encompassing an area or object; "he had walked the full circumference of his land"; "a danger to all races over the whole circumference of the globe" [syn: circumference, circuit]
5: (law) a judicial division of a state or the United States (so-called because originally judges traveled and held court in different locations); one of the twelve groups of states in the United States that is covered by a particular circuit court of appeals
6: a racetrack for automobile races [syn: racing circuit, circuit]
7: movement once around a course; "he drove an extra lap just for insurance" [syn: lap, circle, circuit] v
1: make a circuit; "They were circuiting about the state"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French circuite, from Latin circuitus, from circumire, circuire to go around, from circum- + ire to go — more at issue Date: 14th century 1. a. a usually circular line encompassing an area b. the space enclosed within such a line 2. a. a course around a periphery b. a circuitous or indirect route 3. a. a regular tour (as by a traveling judge or preacher) around an assigned district or territory b. the route traveled c. a group of church congregations ministered to by one pastor 4. a. the complete path of an electric current including usually the source of electric energy b. an assemblage of electronic elements ; hookup c. a two-way communication path between points (as in a computer) d. a neuronal pathway of the brain along which electrical and chemical signals travel 5. a. an association of similar groups ; league b. a number or series of public outlets (as theaters, radio shows, or arenas) offering the same kind of presentation c. a number of similar social gatherings <the cocktail circuit> • circuital adjective II. verb Date: 15th century transitive verb to make a circuit about intransitive verb to make a circuit

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a a line or course enclosing an area; the distance round. b the area enclosed. 2 Electr. a the path of a current. b the apparatus through which a current passes. 3 a the journey of a judge in a particular district to hold courts. b this district. c the lawyers following a circuit. 4 a chain of theatres or cinemas etc. under a single management. 5 Brit. a motor-racing track. 6 a a sequence of sporting events (the US tennis circuit). b a sequence of athletic exercises. 7 a roundabout journey. 8 a a group of local Methodist churches forming a minor administrative unit. b the journey of an itinerant minister within this. Phrases and idioms: circuit-breaker an automatic device for stopping the flow of current in an electrical circuit. Etymology: ME f. OF, f. L circuitus f. CIRCUM- + ire it- go

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Circuit Cir"cuit, n. [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. --Shak. 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 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 or Galvanic circuit or circle, 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Circuit Cir"cuit, v. i. To move in a circle; to go round; to circulate. [Obs.] --J. Philips.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Circuit Cir"cuit, v. t. To travel around. [Obs.] ``Having circuited the air.'' --T. Warton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(circuits) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. An electrical circuit is a complete route which an electric current can flow around. Any attempts to cut through the cabling will break the electrical circuit. N-COUNT see also closed-circuit, short-circuit 2. A circuit is a series of places that are visited regularly by a person or group, especially as a part of their job. It's a common problem, the one I'm asked about most when I'm on the lecture circuit. N-COUNT: usu supp N 3. A racing circuit is a track on which cars, motorbikes, or cycles race. (mainly BRIT) N-COUNT 4. A circuit of a place or area is a journey all the way round it. (FORMAL) She made a slow circuit of the room. N-COUNT: usu N of n

Easton's Bible Dictionary

the apparent diurnal revolution of the sun round the earth (Ps. 19:6), and the changes of the wind (Eccl. 1:6). In Job 22:14, "in the circuit of heaven" (R.V. marg., "on the vault of heaven") means the "arch of heaven," which seems to be bent over our heads.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

sur'-kit, "a going around": Used to represent several Hebrew words in several senses, e.g. the sun's orbit (tequphah), Ps 19:6; the vault of the heavens (chugh), Job 22:14 the King James Version; the circuit of the winds (cabhibh), Ec 1:6 (see ASTRONOMY); Samuel's visiting of communities (cabhabh), 1Sa 7:16. In the Revised Version (British and American) the idea of encircling or "fetching a compass" (the King James Version) is expressed by the phrase "to make a circuit" (hacebh), 2Sa 5:23; 2Ki 3:9; and in the Revised Version, margin it indicates a plain (ha-kikkar), Ne 3:22. The Greek perielthontes is translated in the same way (Ac 28:13), but the Revised Version, margin reads "cast loose," following the Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek reading perielontes.

Nathan Isaacs

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Revolution, circular course. 2. Space, region, tract, district, province, range, sphere, field, compass, bounds. 3. Boundary, compass, boundary line, distance round. 4. Course, tour, round, perambulation, journey.

Moby Thesaurus

O, air lane, alentours, ambages, ambience, ambit, amplifier circuit, annular muscle, annulus, arena, areola, arsis, association, astable circuit, aureole, back-to-back switching circuit, bailiwick, beat, booking, border, borderland, borderlands, borscht circuit, bound, boundary, bout, break, broken circuit, bypass, campaign, chaplet, circle, circuital field, circuiteer, circuitry, circulate, circulation, circumambiencies, circumambulate, circumbendibus, circumference, circumjacencies, circummigrate, circumnavigate, circumstances, circumvent, circumvolution, circus, close the circle, closed circle, closed circuit, coast-to-coast hookup, come full circle, compass, complete circuit, conference, confines, context, corona, coronet, coupling circuit, course, crown, cycle, date, dead circuit, demesne, department, describe a circle, detour, deviation, diadem, diastole, digression, discus, disk, domain, dominion, downbeat, edge, encircle, encompass, engagement, entourage, environing circumstances, environment, environs, equivalent circuit, eternal return, excursion, expedition, fairy ring, field, flank, flight path, flip-flop circuit, full circle, galvanic circuit, garland, gestalt, girdle, girdle the globe, girth, glory, go about, go around, go round, go the round, grand tour, gyration, gyre, habitat, halo, hemisphere, hookup, hot circuit, itinerary, jaunt, journey, judicial circuit, junket, jurisdiction, lap, lasso, lateral circuit, leg, limit, line, live circuit, logical circle, loop, looplet, magic circle, magnetic circuit, make a circuit, march, margin, microcircuit, milieu, monostable circuit, multiple circuit, multiple series, neighborhood, net, network, nonsinusoidal circuit, noose, orb, orbit, outing, outline, outposts, outskirts, package tour, pale, path, peregrination, perimeter, periphery, pilgrimage, playing engagement, pleasure trip, precinct, precincts, primrose path, printed circuit, progress, province, pulse, purlieus, radio links, radius, realm, rectifier circuit, revolution, revolve, ring, road, rondelle, rotation, round, round trip, roundabout, roundabout way, roundel, rounds, route, rubberneck tour, run, safari, sally, saucer, sea lane, semiconductor circuit, series, series multiple, shoot, short, short circuit, shortcut, situation, skirt, spell, sphere, sphincter, spiral, stalk, stand, suburbs, surround, surroundings, systole, thermionic tube circuit, thesis, total environment, tour, track, trade route, traject, trajectory, trajet, transistor circuit, travels, trek, trip, turn, upbeat, vaudeville circuit, vector field, vicinage, vicinity, vicious circle, voyage, walk, way, wheel, whirl, wreath