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Circa (often abbreviated c., ca., ca or cca. and sometimes italicized to show it is Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
) means "in approximately", generally referring to a year. It is widely used in genealogy
Genealogy

Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigree of its members....
 and historical writing, when the dates of events are approximately known.

For example, an encyclopedia entry for Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan , born , was the founder, Khan and Khagan of the Mongol Empire, the World's largest empires contiguous empire in history....
 may begin with "Genghis Khan (c. 1162 – August 18, 1227)", suggesting that he was born in or around the year 1162.






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Circa (often abbreviated c., ca., ca or cca. and sometimes italicized to show it is Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
) means "in approximately", generally referring to a year. It is widely used in genealogy
Genealogy

Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigree of its members....
 and historical writing, when the dates of events are approximately known.

For example, an encyclopedia entry for Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan , born , was the founder, Khan and Khagan of the Mongol Empire, the World's largest empires contiguous empire in history....
 may begin with "Genghis Khan (c. 1162 – August 18, 1227)", suggesting that he was born in or around the year 1162. Note that the year of his death appears as a concrete date suggesting that there is definite evidence that this is when he died.

When used in date ranges, a circa is applied before each approximate date, while dates without a circa immediately preceding them are generally assumed to be known with certainty.

See also

  • Floruit
    Floruit

    Floruit refers to a period of time during which a person, school, movement or even species was active or flourishing. It is the third person, singular, perfect tense, indicative, active form of the Latin verb florere ? "to flourish"....