circlet
Americannoun
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a small circle.
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a ring.
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a ring-shaped ornament, especially for the head.
noun
Etymology
Origin of circlet
1475–85; circle + -et; replacing late Middle English serclett < Middle French
Explanation
Use the noun circlet to describe something that's shaped like a little circle. You might shape a circlet of greens to hang on your door as a wreath. Circlet is an old-fashioned word for a small circle. You could talk about a bride putting a circlet of gold on her groom's finger, or describe a doughnut as a circlet of sweet dough fried in hot oil. Classically, a circlet referred to a crown — a circle made of fine metal and jewels. The Latin root, circus, means "ring," and the French cerclet came later, to mean a smaller ring or circle.
Vocabulary lists containing circlet
Coraline
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 3
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The Silver Chair
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The King, in a light summer suit, spoke a few quiet words of welcome, wearing a circlet of feathers and a scarf that had been draped ceremonially around his shoulders.
From BBC • Jul. 11, 2025
The first English king shown on a coin wearing a crown or circlet was Athelstan, who died in 939, according to the Royal Household website.
From Washington Post • Dec. 20, 2022
Finally the exasperated Newport pushed down on Powhatan’s shoulders and forced him to stoop low enough to get the circlet on his head.
From Textbooks • Jan. 18, 2018
He lay silent, seeing from the circlet moon in a window that it was late.”
From Slate • Aug. 4, 2015
Across her forehead glinted a circlet of silver.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
