circulation

American  

[sur-kyuh-ley-shuhn] / ˌsɜr kjəˈleɪ ʃən /

noun

circulations plural

1. an act or instance of circulating, moving in a circle or circuit, or flowing.

2. the continuous movement of blood through the heart and blood vessels, which is maintained chiefly by the action of the heart, and by which nutrients, oxygen, and internal secretions are carried to and wastes are carried from the body tissues.

3. any similar circuit, passage, or flow, as of the sap in plants or air currents in a room.

4. the transmission or passage of anything from place to place or person to person.

   the circulation of a rumor; the circulation of money.

5. the distribution of copies of a periodical among readers.

6. the number of copies of each issue of a newspaper, magazine, etc., distributed.

7. coins, notes, bills, etc., in use as money; currency.

8. Library Science.

   1. the lending of library books and other materials.

   2. the number of books and materials that a library has lent.

   3. the processes connected with providing for the use of library materials, including reserve operations, recall, and record-keeping.

9. Hydraulics. a quantity analogous to work and equal to the line integral of the component of fluid velocity about a closed contour.

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idioms

1. in circulation, participating actively in social or business life.

   After a month in the hospital, he's back in circulation.

circulation British  

/ ˌsɜːkjʊˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. the transport of oxygenated blood through the arteries to the capillaries, where it nourishes the tissues, and the return of oxygen-depleted blood through the veins to the heart, where the cycle is renewed

2. the flow of sap through a plant

3. any movement through a closed circuit

4. the spreading or transmission of something to a wider group of people or area

5. (of air and water) free movement within an area or volume

6. 1. the distribution of newspapers, magazines, etc

   2. the number of copies of an issue of such a publication that are distributed

7. library science

   1. a book loan, as from a library lending department

   2. each loan transaction of a particular book

   3. the total issue of library books over a specified period

8. a rare term for circulating medium

9. 1. (of currency) serving as a medium of exchange

   2. (of people) active in a social or business context

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circulation Scientific  

/ sûr′kyə-lā′shən /

1. The flow of fluid, especially blood, through the tissues of an organism to allow for the transport and exchange of blood gases, nutrients, and waste products. In vertebrates, the circulation of blood to the tissues and back to the heart is caused by the pumping action of the heart. Oxygen-rich blood is carried away from the heart by the arteries, and oxygen-poor blood is returned to the heart by the veins. The circulation of lymph occurs in a separate system of vessels (the lymphatic system). Lymph is pumped back to the heart by the contraction of skeletal muscles.

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circulation More Idioms  

1. see in circulation; out of circulation.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• intercirculation
  noun
• noncirculation
  noun
• precirculation
  noun
• recirculation
  noun
• circulable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• circulations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of circulation

1400–50 for an earlier alchemical sense; 1645–55 circulation for def. 1; late Middle English circulacioun < Latin circulātiōn- (stem of circulātiō ), equivalent to circulāt ( us ) ( see circulate) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

The word circulation refers to the movement of blood through your body's blood vessels and heart. It can also mean free movement in a more general sense, as in the circulation of news, money, or even library books. Circulation of blood is what happens in your body's circulatory system. There are other kinds of circulation too, like sap moving through a plant, air moving freely within a building, or even party guests strolling around your living room. The key thing they all have in common is orderly movement. The Latin root, circulare, means "to form a circle."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

circulation circulations

As summer heat settles over the Southwest, it changes the circulation in the atmosphere enough to pull up monsoonal moisture from the Pacific and Gulf of California, fueling warm rain and thunderstorms.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

Widespread market challenges continue to pressure digital revenue, while the decline in circulation volume widened, the analysts note.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

After all, the value of physical U.S. currency in circulation today stands at over US$2.46 trillion, an all-time high.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

The lead author of the study, Fangjingcheng Zhu, says the study shows the Atlantic circulation can be "abruptly altered during climate change".

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

It may have been due to changes in the general circulation of the oceans.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

At a time when even the largest American newspapers rarely had circulations exceeding 2,000, over 100,000 copies of “Common Sense” flew from patriot presses by mid-April and reached some 500,000 by 1778.

From Salon ● Jan. 10, 2026

As the world heats unevenly, this causes changes in the atmospheric circulations that steer storms across the planet.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2024

The code has been applied to a wide range of problems, from modeling the dynamics inside individual cells, to ocean and atmospheric circulations.

From Science Daily ● May 22, 2024

The worst is yet to come because we’re seeing incredibly dense smoke moving out across western New York and into the New York City area, based on the circulations that are being forecast.”

From Scientific American ● Jun. 7, 2023

And there are no bodies in millions of graves: they long ago, even to the last grain of dust, entered into the circulations of the material system.

From The Destiny of the Soul A Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life by Alger, William Rounseville

Related Words

• currency
• dissemination