curvus

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *korwos, traditionally derived from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kr̥-wós, from *(s)ker- (“to bend, curve, turn”) +‎ *-wós (whence Latin -vus), and compared with English shrink, as well as Latin carcer and cancer. De Vaan is skeptical of the existence of *(s)ker-, however, and adduces only Proto-Celtic *kurros (“pointed, hooked”) and Ancient Greek κῠρτός (kurtós, “bulging, curved”) as cognates.^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkur.u̯us/, [ˈkʊru̯ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkur.vus/, [ˈkurvus]

Adjective

curvus (feminine curva, neuter curvum); first/second-declension adjective

1. bent, crooked, curved
2. aged (of a person)
3. (figuratively) wrong

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	curvus	curva	curvum		curvī	curvae	curva
genitive	curvī	curvae	curvī		curvōrum	curvārum	curvōrum
dative	curvō	curvae	curvō		curvīs
accusative	curvum	curvam	curvum		curvōs	curvās	curva
ablative	curvō	curvā	curvō		curvīs
vocative	curve	curva	curvum		curvī	curvae	curva

Descendants

• Catalan: corb
• Galician: curvo
• Italian: curvo
• Old French: corbe
  • French: courbe
    • → Romanian: curb
  • → English: corbe
• Portuguese: curvo
• Spanish: corvo

References

1. De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “curvus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 158

Further reading

• “curvus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “curvus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• curvus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “curb”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.