Definition of "circular" []

• Of or relating to a circle. (adjective)
• Shaped like or nearly like a circle; round. (adjective)
• Moving in or forming a circle. (adjective)
• Circuitous; roundabout: took a circular route to the office. (adjective)
• Using a premise to prove a conclusion that in turn is used to prove the premise: a circular argument. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Circular observation in pictures whose structure was apparently not circular leads to the consideration of _circular composition, _ or that class of pictures where the evident intention is to compose under the influence of circular observation — where the circle expresses the first thought in the composition."
• "Circular composition traceable in what has been first conceived as pyramidal or rectangular, circular composition as the first intention, expressed either on a vertical plane or in perspective, i.e., circular or elliptical — and composition _made circular_ not by any arrangement of parts, but by sacrifice and elimination of edges and corners are the three forms of composition which produce circular observation."
• "Frank DiBello, the chief executive of Space Florida—a state-fundedn economic-development agency that normally would be a White House ally—lamented what he called a "circular and endless debate" about NASA's future."