Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “curious” come from?

curious (Middle English) comes from Old French curios, from Latin curiosus, from Latin -osus, from Old Latin -osos, from Latin ont-to-s, from Latin -o-wont-to-s.

curious (Middle English): careful, meticulous; ingenious, skilful; expert,...

Definitions

  1. careful, meticulous; ingenious, skilful; expert,...

Ancestry of “curious”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchcurios—
2LatincuriosusCareful, diligent, thoughtful, devoted;...
3Latin-osus-ose, -ous; full of, overly, prone to
4Old Latin-ososaccusative masculine plural of -ōsus
5Latinont-to-s—
6Latin-o-wont-to-s—

Words derived from “curious”

  • curious
  • curiouser
  • curiousness
  • uncurious
  • overcurious
  • curiousest
  • uncuriously
  • noncurious
  • trans-curious
  • bi-curious
  • uncuriousness
  • supercurious
  • bi-curieux
Every word from Latin -o-wont-to-s →