Cirque vs. Circus: What's the Difference?

A steep bowl-shaped hollow occurring at the upper end of a mountain valley, especially one forming the head of a glacier or stream. Also called cwm.

A public entertainment consisting typically of a variety of performances by acrobats, clowns, and often trained animals.

A ring; a circle.

A traveling company that performs such entertainments.

(geology) A curved depression in a mountainside with steep walls, forming the end of a valley.

A circular arena, surrounded by tiers of seats and often covered by a tent, in which such shows are performed.

Something in the shape of a circle or ring, such as a Roman circus.

A roofless oval enclosure surrounded by tiers of seats that was used in antiquity for public spectacles.

A circle; a circus; a circular erection or arrangement of objects.

Chiefly British An open circular place where several streets intersect.

A kind of circular valley in the side of a mountain, walled around by precipices of great height.

(Informal) Something suggestive of a circus, as in frenetic activity or noisy disorder

A steep-walled semicircular basin in a mountain; may contain a lake

A traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, and other novelty acts, that gives shows usually in a circular tent.

A round open space in a town or city where multiple streets meet.

(figurative) A spectacle; a noisy fuss; a chaotic and/or crowded place.

(historical) In the ancient Roman Empire, a building for chariot racing.

A code name for bomber attacks with fighter escorts in the day time. The attacks were against short-range targets with the intention of occupying enemy fighters and keeping their fighter units in the area concerned.

(obsolete) Circuit; space; enclosure.

To take part in a circus; or to be displayed as if in a circus

A level oblong space surrounded on three sides by seats of wood, earth, or stone, rising in tiers one above another, and divided lengthwise through the middle by a barrier around which the track or course was laid out. It was used for chariot races, games, and public shows.

A circular inclosure for the exhibition of feats of horsemanship, acrobatic displays, etc. Also, the company of performers, with their equipage.

Circuit; space; inclosure.

A travelling company of entertainers; including trained animals;

Performance given by a traveling company of acrobats clowns and trained animals;

A frenetic disorganized (and often comic) disturbance suggestive of a circus or carnival;

(antiquity) an open-air stadium for chariot races and gladiatorial games

An arena consisting of an oval or circular area enclosed by tiers of seats and usually covered by a tent;

A genus of haws comprising the harriers