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curvatura

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word curvatura

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 84–25 BC Vitruvius More words from the 1st century BC
Ultimate origin
Latin curvō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin curvus
English curve
Latin curvō
Latin curvātūra
English curvature
From the same root
English curvy ← curvus
Latin incurvus ← curvus
Latin recurvus ← curvus

Forms

curvātūra f (genitive curvātūrae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin curvō (“to bend, curve”) + -ūra.[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first example is from Vitruvius (c. 84–c. 25 BC), of a place shaped like the curve of a theatre: locus est theatri curvaturae similis.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Vitruvius also uses it of a curved part, such as the middle bend of a mountain ridge that nearly reaches the coast, and of a vaulted ceiling (curvatura camerae).[2][5] In Ovid it is the curved rim of a wheel: aurea erat summae curvatura rotae, “the rim of the topmost wheel was of gold”.[3][5] L&S notes that it is not found before Augustus.[5]

In Medieval Latin it meant a vault,[6][7] the curved top of a bishop's or abbot's staff,[7][8] and the felloe of a wheel.[7] Aldhelm uses it of a bent pine trunk.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of the curve of a theatre and of vaults.[2][4]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the rim of a wheel.[3][4]
  • 639–709 AD – Aldhelm uses it of the bend of a pine trunk.[7][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A curved shape, bend, curvature.[2][5]
  2. A curved part, such as the rim of a wheel or a bend of a ridge.[2][5]
  3. A vaulted ceiling, arch.[5][6]
  4. (Medieval Latin) The crook of a crosier.[8][7]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Curvatura.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/curvatura. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·