circulate
verbUK /ˈsɜː.kjʊˌleɪt/ · US /ˈsɝ.kjʊˌleɪt/
Etymology Borrowed from Late Latin circulātus, perfect passive participle of Late Latin circulō (“to make circular, encircle”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), a later collateral form of circulor (“form a circle (of men) around oneself”), from circulus (“a circle”). See also Middle English circulat(e) (“(alchemy) changed by continuous distillation in a closed vessel”).
1
to move in circles or through a circuit
2
to cause (a person or thing) to move in circles or through a circuit
3
to move from person to person, as at a party
- In both the 2005 and 2013 papal elections there were whispers circulating that back in 1976 Francis had failed to help the two priests in their hour of need.2025 April 21, Peter Stanford, “Pope Francis obituary”, in The Guardian:
4
to spread or disseminate
- to circulate money or gossip
5
to become widely known
6
Mathematics, Sciences Of decimals: to repeat.
- a circulating decimal
- Synonyms
- put about, spread, disseminate
- Derived terms
- circulatable, circulation, circulative, circulator, cocirculate, intercirculate, miscirculate, recirculate