curve English · revision 7393

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1425|origins=la curvus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɜːv/ ''(UK)''; /kɚv/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from Latin [[m|la|curvus|t=bent, curved, crooked]] and [[m|la|curvo|alt=curvāre|t=to bend]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) from PIE [[ine-pro|*sker-|t=to turn, bend]];^(Etymonline) the Latin is related to Greek kyrtós, convex.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The verb, to have a curved form, is implied in curved in the early 15th century;^(Etymonline) Barnhart dates curved, and the adjective curve, bent, to probably before 1425.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To bend into a curve is from the 1660s.^(Etymonline) The noun, a curved line, is from the 1690s (1696, in geometry), short for curve line.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) A graph in physics and statistics is by 1854,^(Etymonline) and a woman's figure, usually ''curves'', from 1862.^(Etymonline) In baseball, a pitch that does not travel straight, the curve ball, is from 1879.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1425 – curved (adjective).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1660s – to bend (verb).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1690s – a curved line (noun).^(Etymonline)

+ * 1854 – a graph.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1879 – a curve ball.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A line or outline that bends smoothly without angles.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A curving part, as a bend in a road.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A line on a graph showing how one quantity varies with another.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(baseball)'' A pitched ball that swerves; a curve ball.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To move in or take the shape of a curve.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[curvedness]]

+ * [[curvy]]

+ * [[curveless]]

+ * [[curvaceous]]

+ * [[curveball]]

+ * [[S-curve]]

+ * [[curvilinear]]

+ * [[incurve]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[curvature]]

+ * [[curb]]

+ * [[crown]]

+ * [[circle]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}