Etymologically
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curve

Etymology and origin of the English word curve

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1425
Ultimate origin
Latin (curvus)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kɜːv/ (UK); /kɚv/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin curvus (“bent, curved, crooked”) and curvāre (“to bend”),[2][3][4][5] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *sker- (“to turn, bend”);[3] the Latin is related to Greek kyrtós, convex.[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb, to have a curved form, is implied in curved in the early 15th century;[3] Barnhart dates curved, and the adjective curve, bent, to probably before 1425.[2]

Semantic evolution

To bend into a curve is from the 1660s.[3] The noun, a curved line, is from the 1690s (1696, in geometry), short for curve line.[3][7][6] A graph in physics and statistics is by 1854,[3] and a woman's figure, usually curves, from 1862.[3] In baseball, a pitch that does not travel straight, the curve ball, is from 1879.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1425 – curved (adjective).[2]
  • 1660s – to bend (verb).[3]
  • 1690s – a curved line (noun).[3]
  • 1854 – a graph.[3]
  • 1879 – a curve ball.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A line or outline that bends smoothly without angles.
  2. A curving part, as a bend in a road.
  3. A line on a graph showing how one quantity varies with another.
  4. (baseball) A pitched ball that swerves; a curve ball.

Verb

  1. To move in or take the shape of a curve.

Word family

  • curvedness
  • curvy
  • curveless
  • curvaceous
  • curveball
  • S-curve
  • curvilinear
  • incurve

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Curve.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/curve. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·