circle
part of speech
noun (circle, circles); verb (circle, circles, circled, circling)
meaning for a pupil
1) A circle is a round flat shape. Every point on its edge is the same distance from the middle (the centre). tree →
2) A circle of people or things is a group arranged in a ring. tree →
3) To circle something is to draw a ring around it: «circle the answer». tree →
4) To circle is to move round and round something: «the plane circled the airport». tree →
5) A circle of friends is a group of friends. tree →
6) A circle can also be one full round of time that ends where it began, such as a day or a year. tree →
sense in the lessons
Interpretation: In Sefer Yetzirah the 22 letters are set around a circle and combined in pairs. The tradition reads this as the way God made everything from letters. The prophets and Proverbs also speak of the circle of the earth and a circle set on the face of the deep, showing God's shaping of the world. In the primary lessons: In school maths: a shape with a centre, radius (centre to edge), diameter (edge to edge through the centre, twice the radius) and circumference (the distance around); things arranged in a circle (gaps equal things); «circle the right answer». In everyday life: circle time, sitting in a circle, a traffic circle (roundabout). Phrases: «in a circle», «circle the answer», «full circle», «circle time».
examples
- Drawing the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet around the edge of a circle, it takes 231 lines, here called שְׁעָרִים sheʽarim ‘gates’, to connect every possible combination of 2 letters. (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation) tree →
- circle Q or Q is each a letter. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →
- elementary cliaracters, or letters, derive tlieir forms from the line and the circle. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →
- When He established the heavens, I was there; when He set a circle upon the face of the deep, (Writings PRO.8.27, JPS 1917) tree →
- It is He that sitteth above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in; (Prophets ISA.40.22, JPS 1917) tree →
- 6 children stand in a circle. tree →
- Trees are planted around a circle. tree →
- Circle the right answer. tree →
- Draw a circle with radius 3 cm. tree →
- The diameter of a circle is twice the radius. tree →
- We sat in a circle for circle time. tree →
- Eagles circled high above the hill. tree →
- A circle has no corners and no straight sides. tree →
- In a few moments the day had completed its circle. tree →
note
Countable: «a circle». A circle is flat; a ball (a sphere) is round in 3D. Maths: in a circle the number of gaps equals the number of things (not one less); diameter = 2 × radius. Trap: using the line rule (+1) on a circle.
In the corpora
- When He established the heavens, I was there; when He set a circle upon the face of the deep,
- Bon Odori is a calm circle dance at Japan's summer Obon festival, which honours the spirits of ancestors.
- Baby elephants stay close to mothers and aunts, who circle them when lions or hyenas come; babies suck their trunks for comfort.
- Leafcutter bees wrap their rooms in neat circles cut from rose leaves.
- Teeth are brushed gently in small circles with a soft brush, because hard scrubbing hurts the gums and wears the teeth.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «circle» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.