British spelling: to make circular in shape, or to send information to many people by distributing circular letters or notices.
From 'circular' plus the verb-forming suffix '-ise' (British) or '-ize' (American), both from Old French. The '-ise/-ize' suffix comes from Latin '-izare' and Greek '-izein', meaning 'to make or become.'
This word shows how British and American English literally took different forks in the road around 1890s—Britain kept '-ise' endings while America standardized on '-ize,' creating thousands of spelling twins that still confuse people today.
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