Etymology

semicircle

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Today it means: A half of a circle. Full definition →

English circle ← Middle English circle ← Old French cercle
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*sem-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*sēmi
  3. Latinsēmi-
  4. Englishsemi-
  5. Ancient Greekκίρκος (kírkos)
  6. Latincircus
  7. Latincirculus
  8. Old Frenchcercle
  9. Middle Englishcircle
  10. Englishcircle
  11. English todaysemicircle

From semi- + circle.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.