circuit 
moving or passing around ; a circular move- 
ment, progress, or journey ; a revolution. 
His [Jupiter's] periodical circuit round the sun. 
Watts, Improvement of Mind. 
The two men who carried the pigs continued to walk 
round me all the time, making at least a dozen circuit*. 
Cook, Voyages, VI. iii. 11. 
2. A boundary-line encompassing any object; 
the distance round any space, whether circular 
or of other form; circumference; limit; com- 
pass. 
That Tour, with the Cytee, was of 25 Myle in ciirmyt of 
the Walles. Mandecille, Travels, p. 41. 
The circuit or compasse of Ireland is 1800 miles. 
Stow, Description of England. 
We are now within the circuit of the aneieut colony. 
E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 59. 
3f. That which encircles ; a ring or circlet. 
The golden circuit on my head, 
Like to the glorious sun's transparent beams. 
5/iot., 2 Hen. VI., iii. 1. 
4. The space inclosed in a circle or within 
certain limits. 
That the comyns may haue kuowleche of hur corayn 
grounde and of the circuite of ther ffraunchese. 
English Oildi (E. E. T. 8.), p. 370. 
Like Maia's son he stood. 
And shook his plumes, that heavenly fragrance flll'd 
The circuit wide. Milton, P. L., v. 287. 
All the pomp that fills 
The circuit of the summer hills. Bryant, June. 
5. The journey of a judge or other person from 
one place to another for the purpose of hold- 
ing court or performing other stated duties. 
He went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and 
Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places. 
1 Sam. vii. 16. 
6. The district or territory in which any business 
involving periodical journeys from place to place 
is carried on ; the places visited. Specifically 
7. The district or portion of country in which 
the same judge or judges hold courts for the 
trial of questions of fact. The circuits of England 
and Wales (of which there are seven fixed by order in 
Council) are now constituted as follows : the koine circuit, 
or southeastern circuit, includes Hertford, Chelmsford, 
Lewes, Maidstone, Huntingdon, Cambridge, Ipswich (al- 
ternately with Bury St. Edmunds), and Norwich ; the mid- 
land circuit, Bedford, Aylesbury, Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, 
Northampton, Nottingham, Oakham, Warwick Division, 
and Birmingham ; the northern circuit, Carlisle, Appleby, 
Northern Division, Lancaster, Manchester, and Liverpool ; 
the northeastern circuit, Durham, Newcastle, York, and 
Leeds ; the Oxford circuit, Reading, Oxford, Worcester, 
.Stafford, Shrewsbury, Hereford, Monmouth, and Glouces- 
ter ; the wexteriicircuit, general assizes, Winchester, Devizes 
(alternately with Salisbury), Dorchester, Exeter, Bodmin, 
Tauiiton (alternately with Wells), and Bristol ; the jforth 
H'alex circuit, Welshpool (alternately with Newtown), Dol- 
gelly, Carnarvon, Beanmaris, Kuthin, Mold, and Chester 
Castle; and South Wales circuit, Haverfordwest, Cardigan, 
Carmarthen, Swansea or Cardiff, Brecon, and Presteign. 
Ireland is divided into six circuits ; and Scotland, exclusive 
of the Lothians, is divided into three circuits, each presided 
over by two judges of the High Court of Judiciary, or Su- 
preme Criminal Court. The circuits of the United States 
courts are now constitu ted as follows : First circuit, the dis- 
tricts of .Maine, Sew Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode 
Island ; second circuit, the districts of Vermont, Connecti- 
cut, and New York (northern, southern, and eastern); 
third circuit, the districts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania 
(eastern and western), and Delaware ; fourth circuit, the 
districts of Maryland, North Carolina (eastern and west- 
ern), South Carolina (eastern and western), West Virginia, 
and Virginia (eastern and western) ; fifth circuit, the dis- 
tricts of Georgia (northern and southern), Florida (north- 
ern ami southern), Alabama (southern, middle, and north- 
ern), Mississippi (northern and southern), Louisiana (east- 
ern and western), and Texas (eastern, western, and north- 
ern); sixth circuit, the districts of Ohio (northern and 
southern), Michigan (eastern and western), Kentucky, and 
Tennessee (eastern, middle, and western); seeenth circuit, 
the districts of Indiana, Illinois (northern and southern), 
and Wisconsin (eastern and western) ; eighth circuit, the 
districts of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri (eastern and west- 
ern), Kansas, Arkansas (eastern and western), Nebraska, 
and Colorado ; ninth circuit, the districts of California, 
Oregon, and Nevada. 
During the long and brilliant judicial career of Judge 
McLean, his circuit grew into an empire. 
Lincoln, in Raymond, p. 170. 
Hence 8. A circuit court (see below). 9. In 
the Meth. Ch., the district assigned to an itin- 
erant preacher. 
On his two circuits he has reported extraordinary re- 
vivals. E. Eggleston, Circuit-Rider, xx. 
The societies of Methodism each of these consisting 
of one or more "classes" were themselves grouped into 
circuits, each of which was placed under the care of one 
or more of Wesley's Conference preachers. 
Encyc. Brit., XVI. 188. 
10. A number of theaters controlled by one 
manager. 11. The name given by foreigners 
in China to a subdivision of a province, con- 
taining two or more fu or prefectures, under 
the control of an official styled a Tao-tai. 12. 
The arrangement by which a current of elec- 
tricity is kept up between the two poles of an 
1008 
electrical machine or of a voltaic battery ; the 
path of an electric current, in a voltaic battery 
the circuit consists of the metallic plates in the cells, with 
the liquid in which they are immersed, and also the con- 
ductor for example, a wire which joins the two poles 
of the battery; in the telegraph the earth forms part of 
the circuit. When the path of the current is completely 
made, so that the electricity is free to flow, the circuit is 
said to be made, completed, or closed ; if interrupted at any 
point, it is broken or opened. 
13. A roundabout argument or statement ; 
circumlocution. [Rare.] 
Thou hast used no circuit of words. llutiirt. 
14. In logic, the extension of a term. See ex- 
tension. 15. In math., a closed path on a sur- 
face Circuit court, the court held by a judge in circuit. 
Commissioner of the Circuit Court. See commix- 
sioncr. Independent circuits, in math., circuits which 
cannot by continuous change be made to coincide. Re- 
ducible Circuit, in math., a circuit which by continuous 
change can he made to shrink up into a point : opposi <! tn 
irreducible circuit. -To make a Circuit-to take a round- 
about road ; go out of the direct road. To ride circuit, 
or the Circuit, (a) To ride or drive from place to place, 
accompanying a circuit court : said of judges or lawyers. 
(ft) In the Meth. Ch., to go the rounds of a circuit as an 
itinerant preacher. United States Circuit Court, the 
principal federal court below the Supreme Court, having 
a large original jurisdiction, within a denned circuit, be- 
sides deciding appeals from the district courts under its 
jurisdiction. 
circuit (ser'kit), r. [< circuit, .] Lt trans, 
To revolve about or go around in. [Rare.] 
Geryon, having circuited the air. 
T. Warton, Hist. Eng. Poetry, III. 246. 
II. intrans. To move in a circle or circuit; 
go around. [Rare.] 
Pining with equinoctial heat, unless 
The cordial cup perpetual motion keep, 
Quick circuiting. J. Philips. 
Atoms, he [Lotze] says, need not be simple or unex- 
tended. . . . Perhaps, although the most subtle and prim- 
itive of all things, even they have their periods, and are 
circuiting back to an earlier condition. 
G. S. Hall, German Culture, p. 96. 
circuit-breaker (ser'kit-bra"ker), . A device 
for opening or breaking an electrical circuit at 
regular intervals, usually a spur-wheel operated 
by clockwork ; a rheotome. 
circuit-closer (8er'kit-kl6"zer), n. A device 
for closing an electrical circuit. The most common 
form is the telegraphic (Morse) key. A disk having inter- 
vals upon the rim covered with insulatory material is also 
used for certain purposes. A spring resting on the disk 
closes the circuit when by the revolution of the disk it is 
brought in contact with the parts not protected by the in- 
sulating material. 
Circuiteer (ser-ki-ter'), n. [< circuit + -eer.] 
One who moves in or travels a circuit. [Rare.] 
Like your fellow-cirruffrrr the sun, you travel the round 
of the earth, and behold all the iniquities under the heav- 
ens. Pope, To Mr. on the Circuit. 
Circuiteer (ser-ki-ter'), v. i. [< Circuiteer, n.~\ 
To go on a circuit. [Rare.] 
We find the originals of our present iron railways in 
those wooden railways which Roger North, when eireuil- 
eerintj with his brother Lord North, noted as existing at 
Newcastle. S. Dowell, Taxes in England, III. lit. 
Circuiter (ser'kit-er), n. [< circuit + -erl.] 
One who goes on a circuit; a circuit judge. 
[Rare.] 
The thieves condemned by any circuiter. 
Whitlock, Manners of Eng. People, p. 513. 
circuition (ser-ku-ish'on), n. [< L. circuitio(n-), 
circumitio(n-), < drcuire, eircumire, go round: 
see circuit, n.~\ 1. The act of going round. 
Bp. Pearson. 2. Circumlocution. [Rare in 
both uses.] 
Intricate circuitionx of discourse. Hooker, Eccl. Pol. , v. 9. 
Circuitous (ser-ku'i-tus), a. [< ML. circuitosus, 
< L. circuitus, a circuit: see circuit, .] Going 
round in a circuit ; not direct ; roundabout : as, 
a circuitous road or course ; " circuitoun means," 
Burke. 
His army marched by a circuitous path, near six miles 
in length. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. 
circuitously (ser-ku'i-tus-li), adv. In a circui- 
tous manner. 
Circuitousness (ser-ku'i-tus-nes), n. The qual- 
ity, state, or condition of being circuitous or 
roundabout; circuity: as, the Circuitousness of 
the route led to delay. 
Circuit-rider (ser'kit-ri // der), . In the Meth. 
Ch., one who rides a circuit; a minister who 
supplies the several stations which constitute 
a circuit, preaching at each successively. 
He was accustomed to preach twice every week-day and 
three times on every Sunday, after the laborious manner 
of the circuit-rider of his time. 
E. Effffleston, Circuit-Rider, xiii. 
circuity (ser-ku'i-ti), .; pi. circuities (-tiz). 
[< L. circuitus, a circuit: see circuit, n.] 1. A 
going round; movement in a circle or circuit. 
circular 
The deer lies dead eight good miles from the spot where 
the tufters first roused him, although the circuities of the 
chase have made us travel over far more ground than the 
point measurement shows. Nineteenth Century, XX. 514. 
Hence 2. A roundabout manner of moving or 
acting ; departure from the nearest or straight- 
est way or line: as, the circuity and delay of 
justice. 3. A tendency to assume a circular 
form ; the state of being circular. 
The characteristic property of running wateris progress, 
of stagnant is circuit;/. 
T. Whately, Modern Gardening, p. 67. 
4f. Compass; extent; circuit. 
A dominion of niuche more large and ample circuitee 
then the same whiche he was Lorde of before. 
Udall, tr. of Erasmus's Ai>ophthegms, p. 220. 
Circuity Of action, in law, the indirectness of successive 
actions by different persons, when an action by the first 
person in the series directly against the last might afford 
relief with equal justice. 
circulable (ser'ku-la-bl), a. [< circulate), v., + 
able.'] Capable of being circulated. 
circulant (ser'ku-lant), n. [< L. circulan(t-)s, 
ppr. of circular!', form a circle: see circulate.'] 
In math., a determinant having all the elements 
of the principal diagonal equal, and those of 
every row the same as those of any other cycli- 
cally transposed Skew circulant, a determinant 
which differs from a circulant as above defined only in 
having the signs of all the elements on one side of the 
principal diagonal changed. 
circular (ser'ku-lar), a. and n. [= F. circulaire 
= Pr. Sp. Pg. circular = It. circolare, < LL. cir- 
cularis, < L. circulus, a circle: see circle, n., and 
-or 3 .] I. a. 1. Having the form of a circle; 
round. 
The frame thereof seemed partly circulare, 
And part triangulare. Spenser, F. Q., II. ix. 22. 
2. Moving in or forming a circle, circuit, or 
round; returning to the starting-point: as, cir- 
cular motion. 3. Related to the circle: as, 
circular points. See below. 4. Figuratively, 
passing through a round or circuit of events or 
experiences ; successive in order and recur- 
rent. [Rare.] 
The life of man is a perpetual war, 
In misery and sorrow circular. 
Sandyt, Book of Job, p. 12. 
5. Adhering to a certain cycle of legends; 
cyclic: applied to certain poets. See cyclic. 
[Rare.] 
Had Virgil been a circular poet, and closely adhered to 
history, how could the Romans have had Dido? Dennis. 
6. Intended for circulation among certain per- 
sons. See circular letter, below. 
The first thing we did was to settle the forme of a circu- 
lar letter to the Governors of all his Maty" Plantations and 
Territories in the West Indies and Islands thereof. 
Emlyn, Diary, May 26, 1671. 
7f. Complete; perfect. 
The King and Queen's court, which is circular 
And perfect. B. Jonxon, Love's Welcome at Bolsover. 
In this, sister, 
Your wisdom is not circular. 
Massinger, Emperor of the East, lit. 1. 
How shall I then begin, or where conclude, 
To draw a fame so truly circular ? 
Vryden, Death of Cromwell, 1. 18. 
8f. Roundabout; circuitous; circumlocutory. 
If you knew well my heart, you would not be 
So circular. 
Middleton and Rowley, Fair Quarrel, ii. 2. 
Circular arc, in math. , an arc of a circle. Circular can- 
on, in music. See canon!. Circular cone. See cone. 
Circular constant, in 71101*., the ratio of the circumfer- 
ence of aclrcle to its diameter. Circular cubic, in math., 
a cubic curve passing through the two circular points at 
infinity. Circular file. See Jilei. Circular function, 
in math., a simply periodic function having a real period ; 
the sine, cosine, secant, cosecant, tangent, or cotangent of 
an angle. Circular insanity, insanity in which there are 
distinct periods of exaltation and depression alternating 
with each other, with or without the interposition of pe- 
riods of lucidity. Circular Instruments, astronomi- 
cal or nautical instruments for measuring angles in which 
the graduation extends round the whole circumference 
of a circle, or to 360 ; for instance, a mural circle. Cir- 
cular letter, a letter conveying information or instruc- 
tions of common interest to a number of persons, either 
in a single copy to be passed from hand to hand, or ad- 
dressed in independent copies to all those concerned. 
See II., 1. Circular line, in math. , a line tangent to the 
absolute, or passing through one of the circular points. 
Circular loom, a loom in which the shuttle moves 
continuously in a circular race through warps arranged 
in a circle. Circular measure. See measure. Circu- 
lar micrometer. See annular micrometer, under mi- 
crometer. Circular note, one of a number of notes or 
letters of credit, each for the same sum, furnished by bank- 
ers to persons about to travel abroad. Along with the 
note the traveler receives "a letter of indication," bear- 
ing the names of certain foreign bankers who will cash 
the note or notes on presentation, on which letter he is 
required to write his name. On presentation the foreign 
banker can demand a view of the " letter of indication," 
and by requiring the presenter to write his name in his 
presence can compare the signature thus made with that 
in the letter, and so far satisfy himself whether the pre- 
