English
curate
Curate comes from Medieval Latin cūrātus ‘one who has been curated, a curate’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kʷeys- ‘to see’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷeys-1‘to see’next step skipped: Medieval Latin cūrō
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500cūrātus1‘one who has been curated, a curate’
- Englishearliest quotation 1904–1907curate1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English curate
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1904–1907, James Joyce, Counterparts: “‘Here, Pat, give us a g.p., like a good…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷeys-Wiktionary, English curate‘to see’next step skipped: Medieval Latin cūrō
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500cūrātusWiktionary, English curate‘one who has been curated, a curate’
- Englishearliest quotation 1904–1907curateWiktionary, English curate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1904–1907, James Joyce, Counterparts: “‘Here, Pat, give us a g.p., like a good…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kʷeys- ‘to see’
sure, security, secure, proxy, cure, shire, sicker, incurable, procurator, 11 more
Today it means
noun An assistant rector or vicar.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “curate”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷeys- / curate