What does the abbreviation in this sentence mean?

[donnycarko]

I am confused as to what the abbreviation in this sentence means. 'Write a response of c. 1000 words'. :shock: What does the 'c' refer to? Does it mean 'approximately', like I assume? 'At least'? 'At most'? Have I even used the right word in characterising the symbol as an abbreviation? Any help would be appreciated. :-D

 

[Munch]

Yes, it is an abbreviation and it stands for the Latin word circa, meaning “around”, “about” or “approximately”. It is most often used with dates when we don't know exactly when an event happened.

So you need to write approximately 1000 words. Ask your professor / lecturer / teacher how close you need to be.

 

[donnycarko]

Thanks very much. In fact, I only need to write 500 words, but I wanted the task to seem a little more impressive. ;-)