curious

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈkjʊə.ri.əs/, /ˈkjɔː.ri.əs/, US /ˈkjʊr.i.əs/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English curious, borrowed from Old French curios and directly from Latin cūriōsus (“careful, diligent; inquisitive”),^[2][3][4] from cūra “care”.^[2][3][5] It is related to cure, curate and accurate.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Eager to know, inquisitive: about 1340 in Barnhart.^[3][5] Etymonline has “subtle, sophisticated” from the mid-14th century and “eager to know” from the late 14th.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Careful or studious is from about 1386, and particular in matters of taste from about 1380; both are obsolete.^[6][7] Made with care and skill is also late 14th century.^[2][7][5] The objective sense, arousing curiosity because strange or odd, is by 1715,^[2][3] probably from the Middle English sense “subtle, occult”.^[3] In booksellers' catalogues it was a euphemism for “erotic” from 1877.^[2] Curiouser and curiouser is from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865).^[2] Curiosity is from about 1378.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1340 – inquisitive.^[3]
• c. 1380 – particular, fastidious.^[6]
• c. 1386 – careful.^[6]
• 1715 – strange, odd.^[2][3]
• 1877 – erotic (of books).^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Wanting to know or learn about something.
2. Too interested in other people's affairs; nosy.
3. Strange or unusual, so that it arouses interest.
4. (archaic) Made with skill or care.

Word family

• curiously
• curiousness
• noncurious
• overcurious
• supercurious
• uncurious

Related words

• curiosity
• curio
• incurious
• cure
• curate
• accurate

Usage notes

Curious, inquisitive, nosy and snoopy all describe people who want information, and curious most often implies a strong desire to learn, though it can also suggest prying.^[8]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin