"Circa"

       I always love it a bit when I come across “circa.”  I understand what it means because I studied Latin.

      This is no great feather in my cap.  Everyone knows what "circa" means, whether a person has studied Latin or not.  But it is a Latin word, and it means “around,” and we often see it when no one knows the exact date; so a good guess would be “circa 1900” or circa whatever.

      I suppose the use of it instead of “around” is to escape seeming dumb for not knowing the exact date.  You don’t appear dumb when you use Latin; you just dumbfound everyone else.