Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - circumstance

 noun  Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin circumstantia, from circumstant-, circumstans, present participle of circumstare to stand around, from circum- + stare to stand — more at stand  Date: 13th century  1.  a. a condition, fact, or event accompanying, conditioning, or determining another ; an essential or inevitable concomitant the weather is a ~ to be taken into consideration  b. a subordinate or accessory fact or detail cost is a minor ~ in this case  c. a piece of evidence that indicates the probability or improbability of an event (as a crime) the ~ of the missing weapon told against him the ~s suggest murder  2.  a. the sum of essential and environmental factors (as of an event or situation) constant and rapid change in economic ~ — G. M. Trevelyan  b. state of affairs ; eventuality open rebellion was a rare ~ — often used in plural a victim of ~s  c. plural situation with regard to wealth he was in easy ~s rose from difficult ~s  3. attendant formalities and ceremonial pride, pomp, and ~ of glorious war — Shakespeare  4. an event that constitutes a detail (as of a narrative or course of events) considering each ~ in turn  Synonyms: see occurrence