The story
- Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)ker-“to bend, curve, turn”
- Latin · derived fromcurvus“bent, curved”
- English todaycurve
Attested since the 1690s, from Latin curvus (“bent, curved”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to bend, curve, turn”) + *-wós. Doublet of curb, shrink, carcer, and cancer.
Words from the same roots
Latincurvus all →
curbcorbecurvicaudatecurvicostatecurviformcurvinervedcurviserialcurvograph
Proto-Indo-European*(s)ker- all →
cardshareshortscreenshirtcarolcrucialarrangecircuschancellorscrutinyripperscareshearcoronashrinerafflecirqueshredcruxscornscourgeshardruckcoronavirusscreedskerryReepscrimpincarnadine
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.