Curva

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A bend or change in direction in a line or surface
2. An arc or circle defining a particular shape or trajectory
3. A smooth, continuous line that deviates from being straight

Etymology: The Italian "curva" comes from Latin "curvus", meaning "bent" or "crooked", and it passed into English as a borrowing from Italian. The noun "curve" in English has a long pedigree of its own, so this term is a later, more technical-sounding arrival that entered the language in a more specialised register. Its meaning stays close to the original image: something that bends away from a straight line. Where English tends to use "curve" for any bending line, the borrowed form often sounds more deliberate, as if it were chosen to describe a shape in a precise, almost mathematical way. The core idea is unchanged from the Latin root, which is simply bending or turning.

Synonyms: curve

Antonyms: line