Etymologically
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curious

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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

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