Circus (disambiguation)

The word circus originates from Latin and can mean several things:

• A travelling show that usually includes acrobats, animal trainers, clowns and other novelty acts. See circus.
• A public equipped space for shows and other spectacles of the Classical period (e.g., in ancient Rome, the Circus Maximus); the term derives from the circular shape of the first arenas in which, mostly, horse and biga (two-horse chariot) races were run.
• In town planning, an open space, usually circular, where a number of roads meet, such as Oxford Circus, Cambridge Circus and Piccadilly Circus in London, or "The Circus" in Bath.
• Circus is a genus of harriers, a type of bird of prey.
• Media circus, a term used to describe perceived overblown media coverage of a news event, such as a trial.
• A disparaging term used to describe anything, such as a television show, that has degenerated from its original form (usually serious or at least somewhat intelligent) into something buffonish. The term was applied by critics to the World Wrestling Federation during the 1980s and early-1990s, because of the promotion's extensive use of cartoon-type gimmicks rather than focus on skilled wrestlers.

It is also the name of several movies:

• Circus - a 2000 crime thriller starring John Hannah
• Circus - a 1936 Soviet classic melodramatic comedy
• The Circus - a 1928 silent film starring Charlie Chaplin
• The Invisible Circus - a 2001 drama film starring Cameron Diaz