cura Italian · revision 37899

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1190, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras|origins=ine-pro *kʷeys-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈku.ra/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cura''' ''f'' (plural cure, diminutive curétta (“cure”) or curettìna (“cure”))^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|cūra|t=care, concern; treatment; administration]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) DELI classes the word as learned, together with [[curare]] and [[curatore]], while DEI and Meyer-Lübke count it among the words Italian shares with the western Romance languages.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|1193)^(REW 1935) The same Latin noun is [[fr|cure]], [[oc|cura]], [[ca|cura]], [[es|cura]] and [[pt|cura]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) Outside Italy it took mostly the Christian sense “cure of souls” and then “parish”, and in Spanish and Portuguese also “parish priest”.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ The Latin word was written ⟨coira⟩ and ⟨coera⟩ in inscriptions of the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, which points to an older diphthong.^(de Vaan 2008) Nocentini calls a Paelignian verb meaning “they took care” the only certain comparison.^(Nocentini 2010) De Vaan derives the noun from [[itc-pro|*kʷoizā|alt=*kʷois-ā-]] “care, watch”, an o-grade noun of [[ine-pro|*kʷeys-|t=to heed]], a root well represented in Celtic and Iranian.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Latin [[m|la|sēcūrus|t=free from care]], the source of [[sicuro]], and [[m|la|cūriōsus]], the source of [[curioso]], belong to the same family.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the bilingual ''Contrasto'' of the troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, about 1190, in its Genoese part.^(TLIO) GRADIT and Nocentini date the word to the second half of the 13th century.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010) DELI's first dated sense, “eager and constant interest in someone or something”, is from Dante, before 1321, who speaks in the ''Inferno'' of a man “cui altra cura stringa e morda” (gripped and gnawed by another care).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|3, 1064)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Several senses are already medieval.^(DELI 1999) “Diligence, zeal” is Dante's, an occupation one is absorbed in appears in Passavanti in 1354, and the medical sense “the remedies used to treat an illness” in the 14th-century translation of Pietro Ispano.^(DELI 1999) The TLIO also records the sense “anguish, worry” in Old Italian, together with guardianship, custody and administration.^(TLIO) The anguished sense lived on in poetry, and the modern dictionaries mark it as literary.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ Ariosto (1532) used ''cura'' for the person or thing that is the object of one's care.^(DELI 1999) The church sense, the community of the faithful entrusted to a priest, is dated 1656–1657, in Sforza Pallavicino, and ''curato'' “parish priest” 1619, in Paolo Sarpi.^(DELI 1999) In Roman law and in modern law a ''cura'' is the administration of another's affairs, and ''curatore'' “guardian, trustee” goes back to Dante.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010) Today ''a cura di'' is the usual formula for “edited by” on the title page of a book.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1190 – The Genoese part of Raimbaut de Vaqueiras's ''Contrasto'' has the first record.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses the reflexive ''curarsi'' “to worry about something”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses ''cura'' for “solicitous interest” and “diligence”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1354 – Iacopo Passavanti uses it for an absorbing occupation.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – The translation of Pietro Ispano uses it for medical treatment.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1532 – Ariosto uses ''cura'' for the object of one's care.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1619 – ''Curato'' “parish priest” is recorded in Paolo Sarpi.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1656–1657 – Sforza Pallavicino uses ''cura'' for a parish community.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|care]], concern, attentive interest in someone or something: ''Si prende cura del nonno ogni pomeriggio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|diligence]], thoroughness: ''Ha incollato le foto con molta cura.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # An occupation, a task one is responsible for: ''sarà mia cura'', it will be my job.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Regard, caution in handling something, and in the plural, attentions given to someone: ''le cure degli zii''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(medicine)'' [[m|en|treatment]], therapy, a course of a medicine: ''Il medico gli ha prescritto una cura di tre settimane.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A [[m|en|remedy]]: ''Per la stanchezza la cura migliore è dormire.''^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(law)'' Administration, management, curatorship: ''la cura di un’eredità''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(religion)'' The ministry of a priest in his parish, the cure of souls (''cura d’anime'').^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(literary)'' Worry, [[m|en|anxiety]], distress.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''a cura di'': edited by, by the work of.^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[curare]]

+ * [[curato]]

+ * [[curatore]]

+ * [[curatela]]

+ * [[curabile]]

+ * [[curabilità]]

+ * [[curante]]

+ * [[curativo]]

+ * [[incuria]]

+ * [[accurato]]

+ * [[curapipe]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sicuro]]

+ * [[curioso]]

+ * [[procurare]]

+ * [[la|cura]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common phrases are ''avere cura'' or ''prendersi cura di'' “to look after”, ''con cura'' “carefully”, ''essere in cura da un medico'' “to be under a doctor's care” and ''casa di cura'' “nursing home, private clinic”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011) The diminutives ''curetta'' and ''curettina'' are recorded.^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}