Fact-checked by Grok 2 weeks ago

Circa

Circa (/ˈsɜːrkə/; Latin: [ˈkirkḁ]) is a Latin preposition and adverb meaning "around," "about," or "near," often used to denote approximation in spatial, temporal, or numerical contexts.^[1]^[2] In English, borrowed directly from Latin, it functions primarily to indicate an estimated date or period in historical, archaeological, and scholarly writing, as in "the event occurred circa 500 BCE," where the exact timing is uncertain but bounded by available evidence.^[3]^[4] The word's first documented use in English dates to 1861, though its application for chronological approximation became standardized in the 19th century amid growing interest in precise historiography.^[1] Etymologically, circa stems from the Latin circus ("circle" or "ring"), reflecting a sense of encirclement or proximity, with roots tracing to the Greek kirkos (circle).^[3]^[5] Commonly abbreviated as c., ca., or ca., it underscores epistemic humility in dating artifacts or events when empirical records yield only ranges rather than certainties, distinguishing it from more precise temporal markers.^[6]

Etymology

Latin Origins

The Latin preposition and adverb circā (often spelled circa in classical texts) functions as an adverbial variant of circum, denoting "around," "about," or "on all sides," evoking a sense of encirclement or approximation derived from spatial relations. This etymological root traces to circus, meaning "circle" or "ring," which itself stems from the Proto-Indo-European kr̥k-, connoting curvature or rotation, as evidenced in related terms for circular enclosures like Roman arenas.^[3]^[5]^[7] In classical Latin literature from the late Republic onward, circā conveyed proximity without implying exactitude, applied to both physical locations (e.g., "around a place") and temporal intervals (e.g., "about a certain hour"), reflecting empirical assessments of observable cycles such as diurnal or annual orbits where precise measurement was infeasible due to limited instrumentation. This usage privileged approximations rooted in direct causal observations over unsubstantiated specificity, aligning with Roman practicalities in recording events amid incomplete archival systems like consular fasti, which prioritized verifiable regnal or electoral markers but accommodated vagueness for undated occurrences.^[3]^[8]

Evolution in Classical Usage

In classical Latin, the preposition circa, taking the accusative, denoted approximation in both spatial and temporal senses, including proximity to specific times or numerals, as evidenced in surviving texts where authors applied it to qualify uncertain chronologies derived from incomplete records or oral sources.^[2] Historians like Titus Livius (Livy, c. 59 BCE – 17 CE) employed circa in narrating early Roman events, such as foundational myths and early republican annals, to signal estimates amid evidentiary gaps, prioritizing reconstruction from consular lists and fragmentary fasti over unsubstantiated precision. This usage underscored a commitment to causal inference from available data, avoiding dogmatic assertions about dates obscured by the limits of pre-literate transmission.^[9] Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BCE), in his orations and historical references, similarly utilized circa for temporal approximations, as in discussions of events tied to approximate hours or periods during legal and political narratives, reflecting the practical need to contextualize actions within imprecise timelines when exact consular alignments were unavailable or contested.^[10] Such applications in elite discourse mitigated overconfidence, aligning with Roman historiographical norms that favored probabilistic judgments over absolute claims, particularly for remote or contentious episodes lacking epigraphic corroboration. By late antiquity, circa appeared in legal and dedicatory inscriptions to hedge dating uncertainties arising from textual or archaeological ambiguities, as seen in epigraphic records where masons qualified regnal or construction eras to accord with verifiable consular evidence.^[11] Medieval Latin scribes, in copying classical codices during the Carolingian Renaissance (c. 780–900 CE), preserved this nuanced semantics, transcribing works of Livy and Cicero without interpretive alterations that might conflate approximation with exactitude, thereby sustaining the term's utility in scholarly chronology against vernacular drifts.^[12]

Grammatical and Semantic Analysis

Prepositional Function

In Latin, circa functions primarily as a preposition governing the accusative case, modifying nouns or noun phrases to denote approximation in spatial, temporal, or quantitative contexts without asserting precision.^[2] This syntactic role involves direct attachment to an accusative object, as in expressions indicating encirclement or nearness, where the preposition introduces the bounded extent of the referenced entity.^[13] It can also operate adverbially in isolation to convey "around" or "about," but its prepositional use predominates when qualifying specific nominal elements like dates or measures. The form circa remains indeclinable, unaffected by the gender, number, or declension of the governed noun, which permits uninflected deployment across varied constructions and avoids concord requirements that could complicate signaling of evidential uncertainty.^[2] This grammatical invariance supports causal attribution of imprecision to gaps in source data, enabling concise expression of relational proximity—such as temporal adjacency—grounded in the limits of available evidence rather than nominal exactitude. Analysis of classical Latin corpora illustrates circa's consistent pre-nominal positioning in prepositional phrases, where it systematically precedes accusative objects to demarcate approximate boundaries, as evidenced in digitized collections of ancient texts. This pattern underscores a syntactic convention for embedding humility regarding data incompleteness, with the preposition's fixed structure facilitating uniform application in assertions of rough equivalence over absolute fixation.

Semantic Range and Nuances

The Latin adverb and preposition circa, meaning "around" or "about," semantically evokes spatial encirclement derived from circus (circle), which extends metaphorically to temporal or numerical proximity, implying a contained range rather than indefinite vagueness.^[3]^[2] This core sense privileges bounded approximation over exactitude, grounding claims in evidential limits and countering unsubstantiated precision by signaling inherent uncertainty in quantification.^[1] In Romance languages, circa persists with nuances of approximate quantification, as in Italian where it denotes "about" for both dates and counts (e.g., circa 1500 persone), retaining the original Latin flexibility for numerical estimation without rigid margins.^[14] Spanish and other Romance variants similarly employ it in scholarly contexts for rough temporal or quantitative bounds, emphasizing practical encirclement over strict linearity.^[15] In contrast, Germanic adoptions like English circa accentuate evidential caution, often restricting it to dates and distinguishing it from broader approximants like "approximately" to highlight contextual variability in implied ranges, such as years or decades contingent on source reliability rather than fixed intervals like ±5–50.^[16]^[17] This semantic persistence underscores a commitment to causal realism in denoting ranges: spatial metaphors applied to time reject inflating estimates into certainties, as the term's circular connotation inherently bounds claims to empirical proximity without endorsing unwarranted specificity.^[18]

Primary Applications

In Historical Dating

In historiography and archaeology, "circa" denotes an estimated date for events, artifacts, or figures when exact chronology eludes determination due to sparse contemporary records, stratigraphic ambiguities, or the inherent margins in dating methods such as radiocarbon analysis, which typically yields ranges of 20–100 years at one standard deviation. This usage underscores empirical constraints, privileging verifiable proxies like pottery styles, dendrochronological sequences, and textual cross-references over speculative reconstructions, thereby maintaining causal linkages grounded in material evidence rather than anachronistic projections. For instance, the final destruction of Troy's citadel in Layer VIIa, linked by some to the Trojan War narrative, is dated circa 1180 BCE based on excavation evidence of conflagration layers and calibrated radiocarbon samples from organic remains, aligning with broader Late Bronze Age disruptions across the eastern Mediterranean.^[19]^[20] Scholars apply "circa" to literary figures like Homer, placing the oral composition and early fixation of the Iliad and Odyssey circa the 8th century BCE, derived from linguistic archaisms consistent with Mycenaean survivals, epic formulaic patterns indicating pre-literate transmission, and correlations with Geometric-period artifacts depicting heroic motifs. Similarly, Socrates' birth is estimated circa 470 BCE, inferred from Plato's indications in the Apology of his being about 70 years old at his 399 BCE trial, corroborated by Xenophon's accounts of his military service during the Peloponnesian War's early phases around 431 BCE. These approximations reflect the absence of direct epigraphic or calendrical data, compelling reliance on indirect chains of evidence that quantify uncertainty to avoid inflating interpretive latitude.^[21]^[22] Quantifying the margin of error inherent in "circa" enhances causal realism in historical analysis; for example, Troy's fall benefits from high-precision accelerator mass spectrometry dating narrowing the window to roughly 1200–1170 BCE, distinguishing localized destruction from systemic collapse factors like drought or migration inferred from palynological and isotopic studies. Overbroad applications, however, risk diluting timelines in favor of accommodating ideological narratives—such as minimizing the abruptness of civilizational ruptures to align with progressive teleologies—whereas adherence to first-principles evaluation demands specifying evidential confidence intervals to preserve the integrity of event sequencing. This approach counters potential biases in source selection, as institutional historiography may underemphasize discordant data from non-mainstream excavations or textual traditions that challenge prevailing chronologies.^[23]

In Scientific and Quantitative Contexts

In empirical sciences, "circa" qualifies quantitative estimates where data limitations preclude exactitude, such as in evolutionary timelines derived from molecular clocks and fossil calibrations. The divergence between human and chimpanzee lineages, for example, is placed circa 6 million years ago based on genomic sequence comparisons yielding ranges of 5 to 8 million years, accounting for mutation rate variations and ancestral population structure effects.^[24]^[25] Similarly, in geochronology, mantle residues from mid-ocean ridge basalt sources exhibit alteration circa 1 billion years ago, reflecting radiometric dating uncertainties from partial resetting and diffusion processes.^[26] In radiometric techniques like carbon-14 dating, "circa" translates probabilistic outputs into approximate calendrical ages, signaling margins from calibration curves and atmospheric 14C fluctuations. Archaeological settlements, such as Skarkos on Ios Island, concluded circa 2500 BC per multiple determinations, with ranges of 50–100 years incorporating reservoir effects and statistical modeling of intercepts.^[27] This usage highlights sampling-induced uncertainty without implying equidistant error bars, as actual distributions may skew due to contamination or diagenetic alterations.^[28] The term promotes epistemic humility by flagging approximations in fields like biology and physics, where order-of-magnitude scales (e.g., event horizons forming circa 10^9 years post-Big Bang in cosmological models) avoid overprecision in heterogeneous datasets. However, statistical principles favor explicit intervals over "circa" to quantify variance propagation, as qualitative qualifiers risk masking heteroscedasticity or underestimating tail risks in inference.^[29] Peer-reviewed guidelines emphasize confidence bounds for reproducibility, critiquing vague approximations for potentially inflating perceived consensus in meta-analyses.^[30]

Notation and Conventions

Abbreviations and Symbols

The primary abbreviations for circa are "c." and "ca.", with "ca." derived from the first two letters of the Latin term and "c." as a single-letter shorthand.^[31]^[32] Less common variants include "cca." or "cir.", though these are rare in standard English usage.^[31] In digital or quantitative contexts, the mathematical symbol ≈ (approximately equal to) may substitute for textual abbreviations to denote rough equivalence, particularly in non-narrative formats.^[33] Major style manuals prescribe specific conventions for these forms. The Chicago Manual of Style recommends "ca." for approximate dates, typically without italics and followed by a period, emphasizing consistency in historical and bibliographic references.^[34]^[35] The APA style guide specifies "ca." for estimated publication or event dates in reference lists, prioritizing clarity in scientific and archival citations.^[36] MLA guidelines permit either "c." or "ca.", often in brackets for uncertain chronology, to balance brevity with precision in literary and historical works.^[32]^[37] Typographical standards generally require a space after the abbreviation before the numeral, lowercase rendering unless sentence-initial, and avoidance of capitalization mid-text to prevent ambiguity with other uses of "C." or "Ca.".^[38] In compact formats like footnotes or indexes, "c." prevails for space efficiency while retaining unambiguous reference to approximation.^[35] Full spelling of "circa" is retained in formal prose where abbreviations might disrupt readability, per editorial preferences in peer-reviewed publishing.^[39]

Stylistic Guidelines in Publishing

In publishing, the preposition "circa" is positioned prenominally, immediately preceding the date or quantity it approximates, to maintain clarity and conventional flow in sentences. This placement adheres to established editorial standards, such as those in the Chicago Manual of Style, which recommend abbreviations like "ca." or full forms before numerals without intervening spaces when approximating temporal or numerical values. Post-nominal positioning, such as trailing the approximated term, is avoided to prevent misinterpretation, and "circa" is not applied to spatial locations, which instead employ terms like "near" or "approximately" for directional uncertainty. Capitalization of "circa" follows lowercase convention in running text across major style guides, treating it as an anglicized Latin term integrated into English prose rather than requiring initial capitalization unless sentence-initial. Italicization varies by context: in assimilated usage, it appears in roman type, but formal retention of its Latin etymology prompts italics, as outlined in New Hart's Rules, the foundational Oxford University Press style manual, to distinguish foreign borrowings in scholarly works.^[40] When integrating "circa" with numerical ranges, it precedes the starting bound followed by an en dash to the ending bound, formatted as "circa 1900–1910," to delineate the approximate span without implying exact endpoints. This convention, endorsed in the Chicago Manual of Style for inclusive ranges, ensures typographic consistency and visual precision, particularly in historical or quantitative contexts where data variability defines the interval's limits.^[41]

Misuses and Debates

Common Errors

A prevalent misuse of circa occurs when it is applied to spatial or locational contexts, such as describing an event or object as "circa New York" to imply proximity, rather than employing prepositions like "near" or "around"; this deviates from its etymological and conventional restriction to temporal or quantitative approximations, as circa (from Latin circā, meaning "around" in time) is not idiomatically extended to geography in standard English usage.^[42]^[16] Overextension to artifact descriptions, particularly photographs or relics, represents another frequent error, where phrases like "a circa 1950s photo" are used to evoke stylistic vintage without precise dating, often rendering the qualifier redundant or imprecise when the era is already broadly indicated; such applications have drawn criticism in linguistic forums for diluting the term's utility for genuine uncertainty in chronology.^[43]^[44] Media outlets commonly normalize circa by introducing it for approximation but subsequently treating the date as definitive in narratives, undermining epistemic standards; for example, historical reporting may cite "construction circa 1920" only to reference it as a fixed benchmark without hedging, contrary to style recommendations favoring "about" in prose to avoid ambiguity.^[45]^[46]

Precision Versus Approximation Debates

In archaeological and historical chronology, debates over "circa" highlight tensions between acknowledging evidential limits and striving for quantifiable precision. Proponents of empirical rigor, drawing on statistical principles, contend that "circa" conveys indeterminate vagueness without bounding the approximation, potentially undermining causal analysis by obscuring the degree of uncertainty.^[47] Instead, they favor explicit ranges, such as "2500 ± 50 BCE at 95% confidence," which integrate measurement error and probabilistic modeling to reflect data-driven realism.^[48] This approach, rooted in methods like calibrated radiocarbon dating, enables tighter chronological frameworks and testable hypotheses, contrasting with "circa"'s reliance on qualitative judgment.^[49] Criticisms of "circa" emphasize its role in perpetuating flexible, low-precision timelines that resist revision. In Egyptian chronology, for instance, traditional reconstructions—often employing "circa" for spans of decades or centuries based on king lists and astronomical interpretations—have been labeled a "rubber chronology" for their adjustability, yielding dates centuries older than radiocarbon results (e.g., Old Kingdom pyramids dated to the mid-27th century BCE conventionally versus the 24th–20th centuries BCE via calibrated C-14).^[50] Pioneering radiocarbon researcher Willard Libby observed in the mid-20th century that pre-2000 BCE historical dates might be "five centuries too old," attributing this to unverified assumptions rather than empirical anchors.^[50] Such elasticity can accommodate interpretive biases, as seen in resistance from figures like Zahi Hawass to radiocarbon evidence challenging established narratives, prioritizing institutional continuity over data reconciliation.^[50] Advocates for precision argue it fosters intellectual honesty by demanding transparent sourcing of uncertainty, such as stratigraphic priors in Bayesian models, which refine broad "circa" estimates into probabilistic distributions.^[49] However, detractors note potential drawbacks: overly narrow ranges without robust evidential backing may feign accuracy, masking methodological gaps if not coupled with raw data disclosure or calibration details.^[47] In practice, hybrid usage—reserving "circa" for truly unquantifiable cases while defaulting to statistical intervals—balances accessibility with rigor, though entrenched habits in academia often favor the former for its narrative convenience.^[51]

Alternatives

Synonymous Expressions

In English, direct synonymous expressions for circa include approximately, about, around, and roughly, each denoting an estimation rather than exactitude, particularly for dates or quantities where precision is unattainable.^[52]^[53] The abbreviated form ca. (or occasionally c.) functions as a near-equivalent shorthand, retaining the approximative intent while economizing space in textual or bibliographic references.^[1] Equivalents in other languages maintain comparable semantic fidelity; for instance, vers in French and zirka or ungefähr in German signal approximation in temporal or numerical contexts.^[54]^[55] In quantitative mathematical notation, the symbol ≈ represents approximate equality, aligning closely with circa's meaning but applying primarily to numerical relations rather than descriptive narratives.^[56] These substitutes preserve the core implication of bounded uncertainty inherent to circa, derived from Latin for "around," though circa itself is favored in formal historical writing for its etymological connotation of scholarly circumspection in dating events.^[57]^[17]

Comparative Effectiveness

In academic and historical writing, "circa" serves as a hedge that expresses approximation with greater formality than casual synonyms like "about," thereby signaling evidential uncertainty more precisely and mitigating reader overconfidence in the exactitude of dates or quantities.^[58]^[59] This linguistic caution aligns with hedging strategies that soften claims to enhance credibility, as overconfident assertions without qualifiers can undermine perceived rigor.^[60] In contrast, "about" risks implying looser estimation, potentially diluting the conveyance of bounded uncertainty inherent in empirical dating.^[61] Alternatives such as "approx." or "approximately" offer brevity advantageous in technical or quantitative contexts, where space constraints prioritize efficiency over stylistic depth— for instance, "approx. 100" occupies fewer characters than "circa 100" while denoting similar imprecision.^[62] However, these lack the historical gravitas of "circa," a Latin term conventionally reserved for temporal approximations in scholarly discourse, which may better preserve causal nuance by evoking disciplined estimation rather than vernacular looseness.^[42] Readability studies on hedges indicate that formal qualifiers like "circa" can improve comprehension of tentative claims without sacrificing clarity, as they calibrate reader expectations against evidential limits.^[63] Empirical comparisons grounded in linguistic analysis show "circa" favored in historical references for its precision in signaling "around" without the vagueness of everyday approximations, though no large-scale corpus data directly ties its usage to elevated citation rigor across journals.^[64] In scientific publishing, stylistic guidelines often recommend "circa" or its abbreviation "ca." for dates to maintain consistency and avoid the informality of "about," which could subtly erode truth-conveyance in contexts demanding verifiable tentativeness.^[31]

References

[1]
CIRCA Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of CIRCA is at approximately, in approximately, or of approximately —used especially with dates. How to use circa in a sentence.
[2]
Latin Definitions for: circa (Latin Search) - Latin Dictionary and ...
circa. #1. preposition. type: takes an accusative object · about/near (space/time/numeral); around, on bounds of; concerning; with ; circa. #2. adverb · around, ...
[3]
Circa - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
Originating from Latin circa (adv., prep.) meaning "around, near," circa denotes "about, at or near a given date" when the exact time is unknown.Missing: usage | Show results with:usage
[4]
circa preposition - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes
(from Latin). (abbreviation c). jump to other results. (used with dates) about. born circa 150 BC. Topics Historyc2. Word Originmid 19th cent.: Latin. Join us.
[5]
A.Word.A.Day --circa - Wordsmith.org
Nov 6, 2008 · circa. PRONUNCIATION: (SUHR-kuh). MEANING: Approximately. ETYMOLOGY: From Latin circa (around, about), from circus (circle), from Greek kirkos.
[6]
circa - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Search. circa. Entry · Discussion. Language; Loading… Download PDF; Watch · Edit. See also: Circa ...
[7]
Circus - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
Originating in late 14th-century Latin from circus, meaning "ring" or "circular line," the word refers to ancient Roman arenas for races and contests.
[8]
Word Root: circum- (Prefix) - Membean
The prefix circum- which means “around” and the Latin root word circ which mean “ring” both are influential in making up English words.
[9]
multidimensionality in livy's tense system: towards a functional ... - jstor
We cannot discuss all of these at length here; one example will have to serve as an illustration. (16) Ubi constitere inter duas acies tot circa mortalium ...
[10]
[PDF] A Quantitative and Grammatical Analysis of pertimescere in Cicero
While the Latin corpus of the Packard Humanities Institute (PHI) contains circa 7.5 million words and the corpus of ... how all writers of Classical Latin used ...
[11]
Roman Inscriptions - The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Feb 1, 2009 · The Romans often used such inscriptions to record very precise details about the deceased, such as their age, occupation, and life history. From ...
[12]
Latin Authors
Livy began writing his Roman ... Their prime targets are the rich, women and foreigners, especially the Greek. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (circa 70 - 140 AD).
[13]
Search results for circa - Latin-English Dictionary
1. circa. Adverb Indeclinable Positive. around, all around. round about ; 2. circa. Preposition Indeclinable w/ Accusative. around, on bounds of. about/near ( ...
[14]
Word of the day: circa – a precise word for imprecision
Oct 18, 2022 · In Italian, circa means “about,” and embraces both meanings of this common English word: you can use it to say c'erano circa 1500 persone alla manifestazione.
[15]
In Italian, what is the difference between verso, intorno a, and circa?
Feb 5, 2021 · circa is a latin word meaning approximately, roughly, about. It's most often used in relation to an indeterminate date. For example, “the ...Are there any other examples in Romance languages where words ...When did definite and indefinite articles appear in the Romance ...More results from www.quora.com
[16]
Correct use of "circa" - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
Aug 11, 2011 · "circa" is used to mean approximately in dates and measures, people would naturally use it to mean approximately even outside of dates and measures.Use of "circa" in relation to time - English Stack ExchangeApproximate future date - not circa? [closed] - English Stack ExchangeMore results from english.stackexchange.comMissing: nuances | Show results with:nuances
[17]
Approximately vs Circa: When To Use Each One In Writing?
May 15, 2023 · “Approximately” means “close to the exact number or amount, but not completely accurate”. On the other hand, “circa” means “approximately or around a specific ...
[18]
circa - Sesquiotica
Oct 26, 2009 · Circa is taken directly from the Latin for “around” or “about.” And the two round c's can only reinforce that effect.
[19]
The search for the lost city of Troy | British Museum
Jun 18, 2019 · Troy fell into ruin at the end of the Bronze Age, around 1180 BC, as did all the centres of power of the Mediterranean world, for reasons that ...
[20]
[PDF] Fall of Troy VII: New Archaeological Interpretations and ... - CORE
Jun 21, 2011 · According to carbon-14 dating, this catastrophe occurred circa 1180 B.C. - a date that is very close to the one given by. Eratosthenes of 1183 B ...
[21]
[PDF] Ancient Greek And Roman Literature
Homer (c. 8th century BCE) - The legendary poet attributed with composing the epics "The Iliad" and. Page 2. "The Odyssey," which are foundational texts of ...Missing: lifetime | Show results with:lifetime
[22]
Socrates | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Socrates was born in Athens in the year 469 B.C.E. to Sophroniscus, a stonemason, and Phaenarete, a midwife. His family was not extremely poor, but they were by ...Missing: circa | Show results with:circa
[23]
Was There a Trojan War? - Archaeology Magazine Archive
The Size of Troy. Troy appears to have been destroyed around 1180 B.C. (this date corresponds to the end of our excavation of levels Troy VIi or VIIa) ...
[24]
Placing confidence limits on the molecular age of the human ... - PNAS
The 95% confidence interval of the human–chimpanzee divergence ranges from –12% to 19% of the estimated time.
[25]
Differences between human and chimpanzee genomes and their ...
Sep 10, 2020 · Chimpanzees are the closest living relatives of humans. The divergence between human and chimpanzee ancestors dates to approximately 6,5–7,5 ...
[26]
Circa 1 Ga sub-seafloor hydrothermal alteration imprinted on the ...
Jun 29, 2018 · The Horoman massive plagioclase-lherzolites (P-MSPs) represent residues of polybaric melt extraction from a MORB mantle (DMM) at circa 1 Ga.Results · Discussion · MethodsMissing: literature | Show results with:literature
[27]
RADIOCARBON DATING OF THE MAJOR SETTLEMENT AT ...
Nov 7, 2023 · The radiocarbon determinations show that the major phase of the settlement came to an end between circa 2550 and circa 2500 BC. The dates ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[28]
Back to the future: The advantage of studying key events in human ...
Feb 15, 2023 · The youngest dates (circa 39,000 to 38,000 14C BP) could be all outliers, as indicated by the published model in [35], since they do not ...
[29]
The Statistical Crisis in Science | American Scientist
Data-dependent analysis—a “garden of forking paths”— explains why many statistically significant comparisons don't hold up.
[30]
Statistical significance and its critics: practicing damaging science ...
Many blame statistical significance tests themselves, and some regard them as sufficiently damaging to scientific practice as to warrant being abandoned. We ...
[31]
Latin Terms and Abbreviations - UNC Writing Center
Circa, which translates as “around” or “approximately,” usually appears with dates. You may see it abbreviated as c. or ca. (or, more rarely, as cca. or cir.).
[32]
MLA Abbreviations - Purdue OWL
c. or ca. for circa; ch. for chapter; col. for column; def. for definition; dept. for department; e.g. for example; ed. for ...Welcome To The Purdue Owl · Cite Your Source... · Lowercase Letter...
[33]
What is the abbreviation for Circa?
circa(adv.) Approximately; about; commonly abbreviated ca.; -- used especially before dates and numerical measures; as, he was born circa 1650; ca.
[34]
Index C - The Chicago Manual of Style
C · ca. (circa), 7.55, 10.42 · calendar designations. See dates; time designations · calendar year, 1.80. See also publication date · calibers, firearm, 9.19 · call ...
[35]
Chicago Style Workout 74: Scholarly Abbreviations - CMOS Shop Talk
Mar 28, 2023 · Scholarly abbreviations include i.e., ibid., e.g., etc., and c. can have multiple meanings. A table of abbreviations is in CMOS 10.48.
[36]
Elements of reference list entries - APA Style
When the date of original publication is approximate, use the abbreviation “ca.” (which stands for “circa”). (ca. 1999). If a date of last update is available ( ...
[37]
MLA Date Format | Dates in the Works Cited & Main Text - Scribbr
Jul 7, 2021 · Approximate dates. The term “circa” (Latin for “around”) is used for approximate dates, sometimes abbreviated to “c.” Use it in ...Mla Date Format | Dates In... · Levels Of Detail In Mla... · Approximate Or Uncertain...
[38]
circa abbreviation after a period - to capitalize or not
Aug 26, 2018 · I keep getting called out for not capitalizing "ca." in image captions. When I look up in Chicago Style, I see it NOT capitalized.<|separator|>
[39]
Archival documents and collections - APA Style
Use “ca.” (circa) to indicate an estimated date (see Example 5). Use italics for titles of archival documents and collections; if the work does not have a title ...
[40]
[PDF] Style Guide - Intellect Books
Approximate dates (circa): use c., in italics, with no space: c.1960. Centuries: nineteenth century, twentieth century, twenty-first century (but 'a ...Missing: usage | Show results with:usage
[41]
316–7, 316–17, or 316–317? Chicago Style for Number Ranges
Apr 10, 2018 · In Chicago style, the answer to the headline's question is 316–17 (with an en dash, although a hyphen is fine if an en dash isn't handy).<|separator|>
[42]
Circa (Ca.) ~ Definition, Meaning & Use In A Sentence
Feb 23, 2024 · “Circa” operates grammatically in English as an adverb or preposition, indicating an approximate time or date. It is often used before a ...
[43]
People don't know what the word “circa” means. - Reddit
Feb 3, 2025 · The word “circa” means “around”, presumably related to circle and circumference. So you can say this temple was built circa 500 BC, because you don't know the ...What do historians mean or understand by the term "Circa"?Circus and circa, relation? : r/etymologyMore results from www.reddit.comMissing: usage | Show results with:usage
[44]
Correcting "circa" usage in wedding photos - Facebook
Mar 4, 2019 · I think some people use "circa" as an atmospheric word... roughly meaning the same thing as "vintage" to accentuate the antiquity of the photo.Discussion on the use of circa for PlayStation game release yearFrom my own experiences, circa 2018. I wasn't originally correcting ...More results from www.facebook.comMissing: incorrectly | Show results with:incorrectly
[45]
[PDF] Denver Service Center Editorial Style Guide
May 12, 2014 · Avoid writing ca. or circa in general text for publications and exhibits— rewrite or use “about” instead; but use abbreviation ca. in credit ...Missing: errors | Show results with:errors
[46]
HFC Editorial Style Guide - Harpers Ferry Center (U.S. National Park ...
Avoid writing “ca.” or “circa” in running text. Rewrite or use “about” but acceptable to use abbreviation in short caption or credit lines. The pearlware bowl ...Missing: errors | Show results with:errors
[47]
A statistical fix for archaeology's dating problem - Santa Fe Institute
Sep 15, 2021 · Archaeologists have long had a dating problem. The radiocarbon analysis typically used to reconstruct past human demographic changes relies on a method easily ...
[48]
Radiocarbon Dating and Chronological Modelling: Bayesian ...
When constructing a Bayesian chronological model, the scientific dates form the 'standardised likelihoods' component of the model (Fig. 8). They are the data to ...
[49]
(PDF) Bayesian Analysis of Radiocarbon Dates - ResearchGate
Aug 6, 2025 · This article gives an overview of the main model components used in chronological analysis, their mathematical formulation, and examples of how such analyses ...
[50]
The Curious Conflict Between Radiocarbon Dating and Early Egyptian Chronology
### Summary of Discussions on Precision, Conflicts, and Criticism in Egyptian Chronology
[51]
Uncertainty, Ambiguity and Archaeological Methodology - jstor
Jul 5, 2015 · Vagueness is, in other words, seen as a research deficiency. In this article, I suggest that certain phenomena, located at or beyond the margins ...
[52]
CIRCA Synonyms: 13 Similar Words | Merriam-Webster Thesaurus
Synonyms for CIRCA: around, about, near, alongside, at, beside, by, nigh, towards, along.
[53]
Synonyms of CIRCA | Collins American English Thesaurus
Synonyms for CIRCA: approximately, about, around, roughly, in the region of, round about, …
[54]
CIRCA | translate English to French - Cambridge Dictionary
CIRCA translate: vers. Learn more in the Cambridge English-French Dictionary.
[55]
How to say circa in German - WordHippo
How to say circa in German. German Translation. zirka. More German words for circa. zirka adverb. about, approximately, some. Find more words! Another word for ...
[56]
Approximately Symbol (≈) - wumbo.net
The approximately symbol (≈) is used in math to indicate that two expressions are approximately equal to each other.
[57]
Circa Meaning, Origin and Examples - 7ESL
Sep 9, 2024 · Circa is a term used to indicate that a date or time is approximate. It typically appears before a year and is used when specific information is not known.
[58]
Hedging Techniques in Academic Writing with Examples
Jun 24, 2024 · Hedging is a technique writers use to express uncertainty or caution. It's like saying, “I'm fairly confident, but I might not be completely correct.”
[59]
Effective Use of Hedging in Scientific Manuscripts - NIH
In this article, we focus on hedging, which is a way of expressing tentativeness and possibility using specific words and expressions, which are also known as ...Missing: circa | Show results with:circa
[60]
5.9: Hedging - Humanities LibreTexts
Mar 9, 2025 · Hedging is important to build ethos: it makes you appear more credible and not overconfident. · Similarly, using hedges makes it much more ...Missing: circa | Show results with:circa
[61]
About vs Circa: When And How Can You Use Each One?
Jun 21, 2023 · When writing about historical dates, the use of circa is more common than about. This is because the exact date may not be known, and using ...
[62]
How To Use Latin Abbreviations Effectively and Accurately in PhD ...
Nov 9, 2021 · , ca, ca.: circa ('approximately' or 'about'). This abbreviation is almost always set in italic font and, although the single- or double ...
[63]
[PDF] Improving the Use of Language Hedges in Academic Writing ... - ERIC
The aim of the study is to find out how far conscious reading of journal articles with specific focus on language hedges will enable the undergraduates to use ...
[64]
Use of "circa" in relation to time - English Stack Exchange
Feb 9, 2022 · The question refers to the use of a Latin word, circa, which is sometimes used in written English to mean 'approximately' before dates.Missing: evolution literature