Very often words having only one meaning allow the emergence of new meanings and interpretations. The process of acquiring additional meanings takes a lot of time, often one word can have a huge number of use cases. This is due to the fact that no language can give a definition to each concept. In addition to this, people may have associations with a particular word. Such lexical units are called polysemous words and cover 40% of the Russian language. One of these words is “circulation”. Let's see what the circulation is and how the word appeared.
Main meaning
Most often, the meaning of the word “circulation” refers to the number of copies of the same work or products being produced and is used in print. Most often, the publisher issues a trial run for a new product to determine the public’s interest in the work. The first issue of copies does not exceed 15 thousand copies. After the necessary data are calculated, the publisher prints and issues the required number of copies. In the event that the product was not in demand and the sales were too small, then the product will not be re-released.
There are three types of circulation: small (trial), medium and mass. The volume of the average release of works does not exceed 100 thousand copies. In the event that the product aroused interest among the general public, it is released in mass circulation, that is, in excess of 100 thousand copies. Most often it is the average circulation that is used, the larger is inherent only to bestsellers and other popular novelties.
Origin of the word
But what does "circulation" in its original form mean? Let's analyze the history of the word.
The source of the word is France. Tirage means drawing lots, drawing lots, is often used along with the theme of lotteries and all kinds of draws. For people associated with finance and economics, this word is used to mean repayment of government obligations. Thus, if a thing went into circulation, it lost its value and value.
What is circulation in relation to people? After some time, the expression “go into circulation” began to be used also for a person. The one who “went into circulation” lost his job. In rare cases, this refers to the death or termination of an individual’s active life. This expression has become so popular, it is now used as phraseology.
Additional values
In addition to these meanings, there are many not so well-known interpretations of the word necessary for understanding what circulation is:
- A way to determine the popularity of a publication and its products.
- Lottery tickets and promotions.
- Ability to use and disseminate to the general public.
- A large number of copies of the same material (not necessarily printed).
- Sugar syrup obtained from boiled sugar and used to decorate baking with glaze.
Now you know what circulation is and how to use this word in all its meanings!