currying

cur·ry·ing
C3U1R1R1Y4I1N1G2
UK/ˈkʌɹiɪŋ/US/ˈkɜ-/

A form of curry — One of a family of dishes originating from Indian cuisine, flavored by a spiced sauce.

Opposite
uncurrying
OriginEnglish curry →
UncommonScrabble 14
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Meanings

currying1

nouncurrying (countable and uncountable, plural curryings)

plural curryings

  1. countablegerunduncountablecomputinggerund of curry: (uncountable) the technique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; (countable) an instance of using this technique.

    Currying is the process of transforming a function that takes multiple arguments into a function that takes just a single argument and returns another function if any arguments are still needed.

    2010, Sal Mangano, “Functional Programming”, in Mike Loukides, editor, Mathematica Cookbook, Sebastopol, Calif.: O’Reilly Media, →ISBN, page 74
    5 more examples

    In the last line [of the preceding function] we have used a trick called Currying (after the logician H. Curry) to solve the problem of introducing a binary operation into a language where all functions must accept a single argument. (The referee comments that although "Currying" is tastier, "Schönfinkeling" might be more accurate.)

    1972 August 1, John C[harles] Reynolds, “Definitional Interpreters for Higher-order Programming Languages”, in Rosemary Shields, editor, ACM ’72: Proceedings of the ACM Annual Conference, volume 2, [New York, N.Y.]: ACM Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 725

    The pure categorical combinatory logic CCL is the one-sorted algebra of terms built from a set Var of variables over the following signature: […] #92;Lambda, called curryiing,^([sic]) of arity 1 […]

    1985, P[ierre]-L[ouis] Curien, “Syntactic Equivalences Inducing Semantic Equivalences”, in Bob F. Caviness, editor, Eurocal ’85: European Conference on Computer Algebra, Linz, Austria, April 1–3 1985: Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; 204), volume 2 (Research Contributions), Berlin; Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg: Springer-Verlag, →ISBN, page 174

    Take two curryings #92;Gamma#95;1((N#92;timesN#92;rightarrowN)#92;times(N#92;timesN#92;rightarrowN)#92;timesL#92;rightarrowL))#61;(N#92;timesN#92;rightarrowN)#92;times(N#92;timesN#92;rightarrowN)#92;rightarrow(L#92;rightarrowL) and #92;Gamma#95;2((N#92;timesN#92;rightarrowN)#92;times(N#92;timesN#92;rightarrowN)#92;timesL#92;timesN#92;rightarrowL))#61;(N#92;timesN#92;rightarrowN)#92;times(N#92;timesN#92;rightarrowN)#92;rightarrow(L#92;timesN#92;rightarrowL). Currying #92;mathcal#123;R#125; twice, we have the following curried SRS [S-expression rewriting system] #92;Gamma#95;2(#92;Gamma#95;1(#92;mathcal#123;R#125;)).

    2004, Yoshihito Toyama, “Termination of S-Expression Rewriting Systems: Lexicographic Path Ordering for Higher-Order Terms”, in Vincent van Oostrom, editor, Rewriting Techniques and Applications: 15th International Conference, RTA 2004, Aachen, Germany, June 3–5, 2004: Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; 3091), Berlin; Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg: Springer-Verlag, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 53

    In first-order rewriting, the question whether properties such as confluence and termination are preserved under currying or uncurrying is studied in [5,6,2]. In [6] a currying transformation from (functional) term rewriting systems (TRSs) into applicative term rewriting systems (ATRSs) is defined; a TRS is terminating if and only if its curried form is.

    2011, Cynthia Kop, “Simplifying Algebraic Functional Systems”, in Franz Winkler, editor, Algebraic Informatics: 4th International Conference, CAI 2011, Linz, Austria, June 21–24, 2011: Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; 6742), Berlin; Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg: Springer-Verlag, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 212

    In the case of a logical refinement system t#58;#92;mathcal#123;D#125;#92;rightarrow#92;mathcal#123;T#125; with enough pullbacks, the fiber #92;mathcal#123;D#125;#95;w is not just monoidal, but also closed[…], with the residuals defined by pulling back along the left and right curryings of the monoid multiplication map: […]

    2015 August 4, Paul-André Mellies, Noam Zeilberger, “An Isbell Duality Theorem for Type Refinement Systems”, in ArXiv, →DOI, →OCLC, page 21; published in Mathematical Structures in Computer Science, volume 28, number 6, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, June 2018, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 736–774

    Antonyms: uncurrying

currying2

verb
  1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of curry.

currying3

verb
  1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of curry.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
grooming

Origin

currying · noun

  1. EnglishCurry
  2. Englishcurry
  3. Englishcurrying

From curry (“to perform currying upon (a function, a parameter, etc.)”, verb) + -ing (suffix forming nouns denoting acts of doing actions or embodiments of actions). Curry is named after the American computer scientist and mathematician Haskell Curry (1900–1982) who further developed the technique based on earlier work by the German logician and mathematician Gottlob Frege (1848–1925) and the Germany-based Russian logician and mathematician Moses Schönfinkel (1888–1942). It is not known who coined the term.

Full word history & related roots →

currying · verb

  1. Tamilகறி (kaṟi)
  2. Englishcurrey
  3. Middle Englishcuryinflu.
  4. Englishcurry
  5. Englishcurrying

From curry (“to cook or season (a dish) with curry powder”, verb) + -ing (suffix forming present participles of verbs).

Full word history & related roots →

currying · verb

From curry (“to groom (a horse)”, verb) + -ing (suffix forming present participles of verbs).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic التكرير
  • التكريرtechnique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
Catalan currificació
  • currificaciótechnique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
Chinese Mandarin 加里化, 卡瑞化
  • 加里化 (jiālǐhuà)technique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
  • 卡瑞化 (kǎruìhuà)technique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
  • 柯里化 (kēlǐhuà)technique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
Finnish Curry-muunnos
  • Curry-muunnostechnique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
French curryfication
  • curryficationtechnique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
German Currying, Schönfinkeln
  • Curryingtechnique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
  • Schönfinkelntechnique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
Hebrew פונקציית קורי
  • פונקציית קוריtechnique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
Italian applicazione parziale
  • applicazione parzialetechnique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
Japanese カリー化
  • カリー化 (karīka)technique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
Korean 커링
  • 커링 (keoring)technique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
Polish rozwijanie funkcji
  • rozwijanie funkcjitechnique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
Portuguese currying
  • curryingtechnique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
Russian каррирование
  • каррирование (karrirovanije)technique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
Spanish currificación
  • currificacióntechnique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
Ukrainian каррінг, каррування
  • каррінг (karrinh)technique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
  • каррування (karruvannja)technique of converting a function that takes multiple arguments into a sequence of functions that each take a single argument; an instance of using this technique
Cite this entry
APA

currying. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/currying

MLA

“currying.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/currying. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “currying,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/currying.

Source: currying on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.