Circulate
late 15th century (as an alchemical term meaning ‘distil something in a closed container, allowing condensed vapour to return to the original liquid’): from Latin circulat- ‘moved in a circular path’, from the verb circulare, from circulus ‘small ring’ (see circle). circulate (sense 1) dates from the mid 17th century.
wiktionary
Borrowed from Latin circulatus, past participle of Late Latin circulare(“make circular, encircle”), a later collateral form of circulari(“form a circle (of men) around oneself”), from circulus(“a circle”).
etymonline
circulate (v.)
1540s as a chemical term in reference to alternating vaporization and condensation, from Latin circulatus, past participle of circulare "to form a circle," from circulus "small ring" (see circle (n.)).
Intransitive sense of "to pass about freely, pass from place to place or person to person" is from 1660s; of newspapers from 1885. Of blood, "to flow in a continuous circuit," from 1650s; of persons, "to mingle in a social gathering," from 1863. Related: Circulated; circulating.
