Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Curve

Curve

(kûrv)
,
Adj.
[L.
curvus
bent, curved. See
Cirb
.]
Bent without angles; crooked; curved;
as, a
curve
line; a
curve
surface
.

Curve

,
Noun.
[See
Curve
,
Adj.
,
Cirb
.]
1.
A bending without angles; that which is bent; a flexure;
as, a
curve
in a railway or canal
.
2.
(Geom.)
A line described according to some low, and having no finite portion of it a straight line.
Axis of a curve
.
See under
Axis
.
–
Curve of quickest descent
.
See
Brachystochrone
.
–
Curve tracing
(Math.)
,
the process of determining the shape, location, singular points, and other peculiarities of a curve from its equation.
–
Plane curve
(Geom.)
,
a curve such that when a plane passes through three points of the curve, it passes through all the other points of the curve. Any other curve is called a
curve of double curvature
, or a
twisted curve
.

Curve

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Curved
(kûrvd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Curving
.]
[L.
curvare
., fr.
curvus
. See
Curve
,
Adj.
,
Curb
.]
To bend; to crook;
as, to
curve
a line; to curve a pipe
; to cause to swerve from a straight course;
as, to
curve
a ball in pitching it
.

Curve

,
Verb.
I.
To bend or turn gradually from a given direction;
as, the road
curves
to the right
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Curve

CURVE

,
Adj.
[L., bent, crooked; to bend, turn or wind.] Bending; crooked; inflected in a regular form, and forming part of a circle; as a curve line, which may be cut by a right line in more points than one. A curve line is that which is neither a straight line, nor composed of straight lines.

CURVE

,
Noun.
A bending in a regular form, or without angles; that which is bent ; a flexure; part of a circle. In geometry, a line which may be cut by a right line in more points than one.

CURVE

,
Verb.
T.
[L.] To bend; to crook; to inflect.

Definition 2024

curve

curve

See also: curvé

English

Adjective

curve

  1. (obsolete) Bent without angles; crooked; curved.
    a curve line
    a curve surface

Translations

Noun

curve ‎(plural curves)

  1. A gentle bend, such as in a road.
    You should slow down when approaching a curve.
  2. A simple figure containing no straight portions and no angles; a curved line.
    She scribbled a curve on the paper.
  3. A grading system based on the scale of performance of a group used to normalize a right-skewed grade distribution (with more lower scores) into a bell curve, so that more can receive higher grades, regardless of their actual knowledge of the subject.
    The teacher was nice and graded the test on a curve
  4. (analytic geometry) A continuous map from a one-dimensional space to a multidimensional space.
  5. (geometry) A one-dimensional figure of non-zero length; the graph of a continuous map from a one-dimensional space.
  6. (algebraic geometry) An algebraic curve; a polynomial relation of the planar coordinates.
  7. (topology) A one-dimensional continuum.
  8. (informal, chiefly in the plural) The attractive shape of a woman's body.

Derived terms

Translations

informal: usually in plural: attractive features of a woman or informal: attractive shape of a woman's body

Verb

curve ‎(third-person singular simple present curves, present participle curving, simple past and past participle curved)

  1. (transitive) To bend; to crook.
    to curve a line
    to curve a pipe
  2. (transitive) To cause to swerve from a straight course.
    to curve a ball in pitching it
  3. (intransitive) To bend or turn gradually from a given direction.
    the road curves to the right
  4. To grade on a curve (bell curve of a normal distribution).
    The teacher will curve the test.

Translations

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: cur‧ve

Etymology

From Latin curvus ‎(“bent, curved”)

Noun

curve f ‎(plural curven or curves, diminutive curvetje n)

  1. curve: curved line

Derived terms

Italian

Noun

curve f

  1. plural of curva

Adjective

curve

  1. feminine plural of curvo

Latin

Adjective

curve

  1. vocative masculine singular of curvus

Lojban

Etymology

In Lojbanized spelling.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈʃurve/

Gismu

curve ‎(rafsi cuv)

  1. pure; x1 is pure/unadulterated/unmitigated/simple in property x2 (ka).

Related terms

Portuguese

Verb

curve

  1. First-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of curvar
  2. Third-person singular (ele, ela, also used with tu and você?) present subjunctive of curvar
  3. Third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of curvar
  4. Third-person singular (você) negative imperative of curvar

Romanian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈkurve]

Noun

curve f

  1. plural of curvă

Spanish

Verb

curve

  1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of curvar.
  2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of curvar.
  3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of curvar.

Etymology

From Latin curvus ‎(“bent, curved”)

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kɜːv/, [ˈkʰɜːv]
  • (GenAM) IPA(key): /kɝv/, [ˈkʰɝv]
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)v

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