v.
- move or cause to move continuously or freely through a closed area.
▸move around a social function and talk to many people.
- pass or cause to pass from place to place or person to person.
Derivative
- circulative adj.
- circulator n.
Etymology
C15 (as an alchemical term meaning ‘distil something, allowing condensed vapour to return to the original liquid’): from L. circulat-, circulare ‘move in a circular path’, from circulus (see circle).