Meanings
plural circlets
- A small circle.
- A ring (typically of gold or silver) worn as an ornament on the head.
He wore in addition to his leathern trappings and jewelled ornaments a great circlet of gold about his brow in the exact centre of which was set an immense stone, the exact counterpart of that which I had seen upon the breast of the little old man at the atmosphere plant nearly twenty years before.
1913 January–May, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Gods of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as “Thuvia”, in The Gods of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., September 1918, →OCLC, page 69 - A crown without arches or a covering.
Her faire lockes in rich circlet be enrold.
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 5 - A round body; an orb.
Fairest of stars […] that crown'st the smiling morn / With thy bright circlet.
1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC
Origin
- Middle Frenchcerclet
- Englishcirclet
From Middle French cerclet, diminutive of cercle.
More words from Middle French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian кръгче, диадема
- кръгче (krăgče)a small circle
- диадема (diadema)ornament worn on the head
- диадема (diadema)a crown without arches or a covering
French diadème
- diadèmea crown without arches or a covering
Hungarian köröcske, diadém
- köröcskea small circle
- diadéma crown without arches or a covering
Irish fleasc
- fleascornament worn on the head
Italian cerchiello, rotella
- cerchielloa small circle
- rotellaa small circle
- cerchielloornament worn on the head
Spanish circulito
- circulitoa small circle
Cite this entry
circlet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/circlet
“circlet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/circlet. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “circlet,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/circlet.
Source: circlet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.