cirquen.
/səːk/, U.S. /sərk/ 1.
a. = circus n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > a public show or spectacle > [noun] > place for public shows > circus
ring?a1400
circus1546
cirque1601
dog-and-pony show1885
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 195 To fight in the great cirque.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 142 The grand-cirque, where the horse-running is held for the prize.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 857 A certaine spectacle upon the Circk or Theatre of Rome.
1770 J. Langhorne & W. Langhorne tr. Plutarch Lives (1879) I. 224/1 Around the plausive cirque.
1873 R. Browning Red Cotton Night-cap Country `ii. 69 Inside a ruin, fane or bath or cirque, Renowned in story.
b. Any circular space, esp. for games or the like.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > place for sports or games > [noun]
ring?a1400
rink1489
game place1542
playing field1583
rink-room1594
stadium1603
cirque1644
xystus1664
amphitheatre1710
field1730
grandstand1754
chunk-yard1773
sports ground1862
park1867
sports field1877
pitch1895
close1898
sports centre1907
padang1909
sports stadium1911
bowl1913
field house1922
sportsdrome1951
sports complex1957
astrodome1964
dome1965
sportsplex1974
the world > space > shape > curvature > roundness > [noun] > circularity > a circle > a circular space
rotund1606
rotundo1614
cirque1644
circus1771
1644 J. Bulwer Chirologia 105 The Horse Cirque..in Smithfield.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis v, in tr. Virgil Wks. 349 The cirque he clears; The Crowd withdrawn, an open Plain appears.
1748 W. Shenstone School-mistress xxx, in R. Dodsley Coll. Poems (ed. 2) I. 259 Like a rushing torrent out they fly, And now the grassy cirque han cover'd o'er.
1774 T. Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry I. Diss. i. sig. c4 Circs of the same sort are still to be seen in Cornwall, so famous at this day for the athletic art.
1855 M. Arnold Tristram & Iseult (1877) I. 219 This cirque of open ground Is light and green.
c. = circus n. 2 (Chiefly as proper name.)
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > circus performance > [noun] > circus arena
circus1791
cirque1845
three-ring circus1898
one-ring circus1907
1845 Athenæum 22 Feb. 204 Singing classes are to take place in the Cirque.
1889 Glasgow Herald 11 Mar. 6/8 Mr. Joseph Hamilton..opened a short season at Hengler's Cirque on Saturday evening.
2. A natural amphitheatre, or rounded hollow or plain encircled by heights; esp. one high up in the mountains at the head of a stream or glacier. [So in French.]
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hollow or depression > [noun] > natural amphitheatre
amphitheatre1613
theatre1652
circus1836
cwm1853
cirque1874
kar1893
1874 W. B. Dawkins Cave Hunting ii. 26 Large gulfs and cirques on the surface, which are sometimes filled with water.
1878 A. C. Ramsay Physical Geol. & Geogr. Great Brit. xxiii. 362 It gathers on the mountain slopes, and in the large cirques or recesses.
1882 A. Geikie Text-bk. Geol. vii. 924 Subaerial forces..have..scarped the mountains into cliff and cirque.
3. A circle, ring, or circlet, of any sort. poetic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > roundness > [noun] > a circle or ring
rounda1325
circlec1380
rigol1459
roundel1486
rundle1529
roundaboutc1535
circule1549
gyre1590
ringle1598
cirque1677
crinkle1702
circus1748
1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 339 A single Cirque of stones without Epistyles or Architraves.
1757 J. Dyer Fleece iii. 86 Scarce the cirque Need turn-around.
1815 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone iv. 67 And cirque and crescent framed by wall Of close-clipt foliage.
1820 J. Keats Hyperion: a Fragm. ii, in Lamia & Other Poems 169 A dismal cirque Of Druid stones, upon a forlorn moor.
1834 I. D'Israeli Revol. Epick xlix The cirque Binding dim Pluto's brow.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
cirque-play n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > circus performance > [noun]
cirque-play1606
cirque-show1614
cirque-sight1636
tent show1878
1606 P. Holland tr. Suetonius Hist. Twelve Caesars 158 (R.) Cirque-plaies and games.
cirque-show n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > circus performance > [noun]
cirque-play1606
cirque-show1614
cirque-sight1636
tent show1878
1614 T. Godwin Romanæ Historiæ Anthologia ii. iii. ii. 68 The cirque-shews taking their appellation from the great cirque.
cirque-solemnity n.
ΚΠ
1606 P. Holland tr. Suetonius Hist. Twelve Caesars 158 (R.) The stately pompe of the Cirque solemnities.
C2. † cirque-sight n. Obsolete circus show.
cirque-couchant n. lying coiled up in circles.Apparently an isolated use.
ΚΠ
1820 J. Keats Lamia i, in Lamia & Other Poems 6 A palpitating snake, Bright, and cirque-couchant in a dusky brake.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > circus performance > [noun]
cirque-play1606
cirque-show1614
cirque-sight1636
tent show1878
1636 P. Heylyn Hist. Sabbath ii. 103 For the Lords day..neither theater nor cirquesight nor combatings with wilde beasts, should be used thereon.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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