curse English · revision 8028

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|formation=inherited|attested=before 1050}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɜːs/ ''(UK)''; /kɝs/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|curs|t=a prayer that evil befall someone]], a late Old English word,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) of uncertain or unknown origin;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) no similar word exists in Germanic, Romance or Celtic.^(Etymonline) The Middle English Compendium suggests Latin cursus, a course, in the Christian sense of a set of daily prayers, extended to a set of imprecations,^(Etymonline) and Old French coroz, anger, and Old Irish cūrsagim, I scold, have also been proposed;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Barnhart finds none of these satisfactory, and a link with cross is unlikely.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A malediction; a formal sentence of excommunication: before 1050.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The ''great curse'' was the formula read in churches four times a year, listing the offences that brought automatic excommunication.^(Etymonline) The evil invoked upon someone, a cause of severe trouble, is from the early 14th century,^(Etymonline) and Hoad dates evil inflicted by supernatural power to the 16th.^(Hoad 1986) An accursed thing is from 1382.^(OED 1989) The verb, Old English cursian, to wish evil to, excommunicate, is as old,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) and to swear profanely is from the early 13th century.^(Etymonline) ''Curses!'' as a histrionic exclamation is by the 1680s (1885 in the OED),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and ''not worth a curse'' from 1763.^(OED 1989) The ''curse of Scotland'', the nine of diamonds, is attested from 1791 with obscure meaning.^(Etymonline) In the 19th century ''the curse'' was the sentence on Adam and Eve in Genesis,^(Etymonline) and as slang for menstruation it is from 1930.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1050 – a malediction.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * early 13th century – to swear (verb).^(Etymonline)

+ * early 14th century – a cause of trouble.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1382 – an accursed thing.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1791 – curse of Scotland.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1930 – menstruation (slang).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An appeal for evil or misfortune to fall on someone, or the evil that results.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A cause of great trouble or harm; a [[scourge]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[profane]] or obscene word; an oath.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(the curse, slang)'' Menstruation.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To call down evil upon; to [[damn]].^(AHD)

+ # To swear at, or to use profane language.^(AHD)

+ # To afflict: ''cursed with bad luck''.^(AHD)

+ # To excommunicate.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[curser]]

+ * [[outcurse]]

+ * [[curse word]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cursed]]

+ * [[cuss]]

+ * [[accursed]]

+ * [[malediction]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Somerset dialect curse was a form of cress.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}