1. noun
a) That which attends, or relates to, or in some way affects, a fact or event; an attendant thing or state of things.
Then another circumstance happened, which made a lasting impression on my memory, though I was but a small child.
b) An event; a fact; a particular incident.
2. verb
To place in a particular situation; to supply relative incidents.
Tidings had in some shape reached is ears that his father was not comfortably circumstanced as regarded money.
Wikipedia foundation.