Curset

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An obsolete past form of the verb meaning to call down a harmful fate or divine punishment upon someone
2. Archaic past tense and participle of a verb meaning to invoke evil or misfortune on a person or thing
3. A dated form of the past tense of the verb to wish harm, doom, or damnation upon another

Etymology: This is an old past-tense form of "curse," a verb whose past participle was often spelled "curst" in Middle English and early modern English, with "curset" a less common variant of the same form. Its meaning, to have called down doom or harm on someone, is the sense the verb has carried since Old English, when the verb "cursian" was formed from the noun "curs." The noun's own origin is uncertain. Scholars have proposed several sources, but none is firmly established, so the verb's past tense inherits a history that is clear only from Old English onward. Its archaic spellings, "curst" and "curset," show how the ending "-ed" was once pronounced as a separate syllable and how spelling varied before standard forms settled.

Synonyms: corset, stays