circulation
noun
Simple meaning
Number of copies of a newspaper or magazine that are sold.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
surkyuhlayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsɝkjəleɪʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The act of passing from place to place or person to person; free diffusion; transmission.
Number of copies of a newspaper or magazine that are sold
“By increasing its circulation the newspaper hoped to increase its advertising.”
Currency; circulating coins; notes, bills, etc., current for coin.
The act of moving in a circle, or in a course which brings the moving body to the place where its motion began.
strictly
The movement of the blood in the circulatory system, by which it is brought into close relations with the cells and tissues of the body; (loosely) the circulatory system.
The extent to which anything circulates or is circulated; the measurement of diffusion
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Number of copies of a newspaper or magazine that are sold
Used this way, circulation is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in news or reporting contexts.
“By increasing its circulation the newspaper hoped to increase its advertising.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- News/reporting
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use circulation
- “By increasing its circulation the newspaper hoped to increase its advertising.”noun
- “Ocean circulation is an important part of global climate.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Movement / free
Anything
Count
Other combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The system of blood vessels and structures through which blood moves in a fetus.
Circulation that supplies blood to all the body except to the lungs.
Circulation of blood between the embryo and the yolk sac.
Circulation of blood between the heart and the lungs.
The system of blood vessels and structures through which blood moves in a fetus.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Of or relating to circulation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.