Circularly: meaning, definitions and examples

Describing anything moving or positioned in a perfect circle or taking a circular shape.

• The dancers moved circularly around the stage
• The stones were arranged circularly in the garden

Used when referring to processes, events, or patterns that repeat in a cycle over time.

• Economic activities often occur cyclically
• The seasons change cyclically throughout the year

Describing movement around a central point, often used in an astronomical context or in situations where one object moves around another in a stable path.

• The moon moves orbitally around the Earth
• Satellites are placed orbitally around the planet

Describes movement or a process that goes in a circle. Often used in mathematics or physical sciences.

• The planets move circularly around the sun
• The machine processes materials circularly

Describes actions performed over and over again, often implying a sense of monotony or lack of variation. May have a negative connotation when used to describe tedious tasks.

• She tapped her foot repetitively during the meeting
• The assembly line worked repetitively to produce identical parts

Used in computer science or mathematics to describe a function or process that refers to itself in its definition. Often involves defining a problem in terms of a smaller instance of the same problem.

• The function calls itself recursively to compute the Fibonacci sequence
• He explained the concept of fractals recursively