curative

Etymology

It is partly borrowed from Middle French curatif, recorded in Old French from 1314, and partly borrowed from Medieval Latin cūrātīvus, used from the 13th century in British and continental sources,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} which is formed from cūrātus, the past participle of cūrō (“to care for; to cure”), and the suffix -īvus.^[2][3][7] Merriam-Webster derives the French word from curer (“to take care of, heal”) and -atif.^[8] The Latin verb is from cūra (“care”), the source of cure.^[3][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to curing or healing: probably before 1425, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie.^[2] Etymonline dates it to the early 15th century.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The sense "able to cure, healing" is recorded from 1525,^[2] and the figurative "remedial, corrective" from 1658.^[2][5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "relating to the cure of diseases; not preservative", quoting Browne's Vulgar Errours.^[10] The noun, a remedy, is recorded from 1577,^[2] although Etymonline dates it only to 1857;^[9] the OED compares the post-classical Latin feminine noun cūrātīva.^[2]

Timeline

• probably before 1425 – of or relating to curing or healing.^[2]
• 1525 – able to cure or heal.^[2]
• 1577 – noun, a remedy.^[2]
• 1658 – figurative, remedial, corrective.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Able or tending to cure disease; healing: a curative course of treatment.^[8][11][2]
2. Of or relating to the cure of disease.^[8][2]
3. Figuratively, remedial or corrective.^[2][5]

Noun

1. Something that cures; a remedy.^[11][2][5]

Word family

• curatively
• curativeness
• noncurative
• subcurative

Related words

• cure
• curator

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins