Circa

Circa (often abbreviated c., ca., ca or cca. and sometimes to show it is ) literally means "" or "around". It is widely used in and historical writing, when the dates of events are approximately known.

For example, an encyclopedia entry for may begin with "Genghis Khan (circa 1162–August 18, 1227)".

When used in date ranges, a circa is applied before each approximate date, while dates without a circa immediately preceding them are generally assumed to be known with certainty. For instance, the 1162 in the above example is approximate, but the August 18, 1227 is known.