A fact or condition that surrounds and affects a situation or event. Circumstances are the details that help explain why something happens.
From Latin "circumstantia," from "circum" meaning "around" and "stare" meaning "to stand." It originally meant "things standing around" an event, that is, the surrounding conditions.
The word paints a picture of events standing in the middle while all the "circumstances" stand around them like onlookers. It reminds us that what happens to someone is rarely just about one action—it’s about the whole crowd of conditions around it.
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