circlet

C3I1R1C3L1E1T1
UK/ˈsɜːklət/US/ˈsɜɹklət/

noun

A small circle.

UncommonScrabble 11

Meanings

nouncirclet (plural circlets)

plural circlets

  1. A small circle.
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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

  1. Middle Frenchcerclet
  2. Englishcirclet

From Middle French cerclet, diminutive of cercle.

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
APA

circlet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/circlet

MLA

“circlet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/circlet. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “circlet,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/circlet.

Source: circlet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.