What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Circumstance or Situation - What's the difference?

circumstance | situation |

As nouns the difference between circumstance and situation

is that circumstance is that which attends, or relates to, or in some way affects, a fact or event; an attendant thing or state of things while situation is the way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings.

As a verb circumstance

is to place in a particular situation, especially with regard to money or other resources.

circumstance

English

Alternative forms

* circumstaunce

Noun

(en noun)
  • That which attends, or relates to, or in some way affects, a fact or event; an attendant thing or state of things.
  • * Washington Irving
  • The circumstances are well known in the country where they happened.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1905, author=
  • , title= , chapter=1 citation , passage=“The story of this adoption is, of course, the pivot round which all the circumstances of the mysterious tragedy revolved. Mrs. Yule had an only son, namely, William, to whom she was passionately attached ; but, like many a fond mother, she had the desire of mapping out that son's future entirely according to her own ideas. […]”}}
  • An event; a fact; a particular incident.
  • * Addison
  • The sculptor had in his thoughts the conqoeror weeping for new worlds, or the like circumstances in history.
  • * 1834 , David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of , Nebraska 1987, p. 20:
  • Then another circumstance happened, which made a lasting impression on my memory, though I was but a small child.
  • Circumlocution; detail.
  • * Shakespeare
  • So without more circumstance at all / I hold it fit that we shake hands and part.
  • Condition in regard to worldly estate; state of property; situation; surroundings.
  • * Addison
  • When men are easy in their circumstances , they are naturally enemies to innovations.

    Derived terms

    {{der3, attendant circumstance , extenuating circumstances , under no circumstance , under the circumstances}}

    Verb

    (circumstanc)
  • To place in a particular situation, especially with regard to money or other resources.
  • * 1858 , , Chapter 8:
  • Tidings had in some shape reached is ears that his father was not comfortably circumstanced as regarded money.
  • *
  • situation

    English

    Alternative forms

    * scituation

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings.
  • * 1908 , (Kenneth Grahame), (The Wind in the Willows) :
  • ...he being naturally an underground animal by birth and breeding, the situation of Badger's house exactly suited him and made him feel at home; while the Rat, who slept every night in a bedroom the windows of which opened on a breezy river, naturally felt the atmosphere still and oppressive.
  • The place in which something is situated; a location.
  • * 1833 , Thomas Hibbert and Robert Buist, The American Flower Garden Directory , page 142:
  • [Hibíscus] speciòsus is the most splendid, and deserves a situation in every garden.
  • Position or status with regard to conditions and circumstances.
  • The combination of circumstances at a given moment; a state of affairs.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.}}
  • (UK, dated) A position of employment; a post.
  • * 1913 , , (Sons and Lovers) , Penguin 2006, page 78:
  • When he was nineteen, he suddenly left the 'Co-op' office, and got a situation in Nottingham.
  • * 1946 , Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, Milt Gabler, :
  • You take a morning paper from the top of the stack
    And read the situations from the front to the back
    The only job that's open need a man with a knack
    So put it right back in the rack Jack.
  • A difficult or unpleasant set of circumstances; a problem.
  • Boss, we've got a situation here...

    Synonyms

    * (combination of circumstances) condition, set up

    See also

    * situation comedy, sitcom

    References

    * Source for the definitions: ** Dictionary.com. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/situation] (accessed: March 10, 2007). * * *

    Anagrams

    * ----