Circumstance or Situation - What's the difference?
circumstance | situation |
That which attends, or relates to, or in some way affects, a fact or event; an attendant thing or state of things.
* Washington Irving
* {{quote-book, year=1905, author=
, title=
, chapter=1 An event; a fact; a particular incident.
* Addison
* 1834 , David Crockett, A Narrative of the Life of , Nebraska 1987, p. 20:
Circumlocution; detail.
* Shakespeare
Condition in regard to worldly estate; state of property; situation; surroundings.
* Addison
To place in a particular situation, especially with regard to money or other resources.
* 1858 , , Chapter 8:
*
The way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings.
* 1908 , (Kenneth Grahame), (The Wind in the Willows) :
The place in which something is situated; a location.
* 1833 , Thomas Hibbert and Robert Buist, The American Flower Garden Directory , page 142:
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:
* 1946 , Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, Milt Gabler, :
A difficult or unpleasant set of circumstances; a problem.
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
* circumstaunceNoun
(en noun)- The circumstances are well known in the country where they happened.
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. […]”}}
- The sculptor had in his thoughts the conqoeror weeping for new worlds, or the like circumstances in history.
- Then another circumstance happened, which made a lasting impression on my memory, though I was but a small child.
- So without more circumstance at all / I hold it fit that we shake hands and part.
- 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)- Tidings had in some shape reached is ears that his father was not comfortably circumstanced as regarded money.
situation
English
Alternative forms
* scituationNoun
(en noun)- ...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.
- [Hibíscus] speciòsus is the most splendid, and deserves a situation in every garden.
- When he was nineteen, he suddenly left the 'Co-op' office, and got a situation in Nottingham.
- 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.
- Boss, we've got a situation here...