non-circularadj.
/nɒnˈsəːkjᵿlə/, U.S. /nɑnˈsərkjələr/ 1. Not circular in form or shape.
ΚΠ
1863 W. Thomson Outl. Necessary Laws of Thought 249 The astronomer must have affirmed of the planets a circular and a non-circular motion.
1922 A. D. Udden tr. N. Bohr Theory of Spectra iii. iii. 100 The non-circular orbits will correspond to a firmer binding than the circular orbits having the same value for the principal quantum number.
1992 S. P. Maran Astron. & Astrophysics Encycl. 224/2 Observations in certain areas reveal a variety of noncircular motions.
2. Not involving or derived by circular reasoning.
ΚΠ
1914 Jrnl. Philos., Psychol. & Sci. Methods 11 113 An unambiguous, non-circular definition.
1935 Mind 44 373 This interpretation..shows the appeal to the divine veracity to be both non-circular and epistemologically necessary.
1994 Internat. Jrnl. Lexicogr. 7 323 One is supposed to assume, to avoid circularity, that n. def. 3 is using the noncircular verb senses.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1863- to do a dutch act
- to do a etc in the way
- to do a face plant
- to do a fade
- to do a foreigner
- to do a freeze
- to do a friendship
- to do a garbo
- to do a get
- to do a good to
- to do a grace
- to do a guy
- to do a harvey smith
- to do a hot foot
- to do a hot foots
- to do a job
- to do a job on
- to do a jobby
- to do a knock with
- to do a line with
- to do a maddie
- to do a mastery
- to do a melba
- to do a mick
- to do a mike