Curtilage
(Cur"ti*lage) n. [OF. cortillage, curtillage, fr. cortil court, courtyard, LL. cortis court. See
Court.] (Law) A yard, courtyard, or piece of ground, included within the fence surrounding a dwelling
house. Burrill.
Curtly
(Curt"ly) adv. In a curt manner.
Curtness
(Curt"ness), n. The quality of bing curt.
Curtsy
(Curt"sy) n. Same as Courtesy, an act of respect.
Curule
(Cu"rule) a. [L. curulis, fr. currus a chariot: cf. F. curule.]
1. Of or pertaining to a chariot.
2. (Rom. Antiq.) Of or pertaining to a kind of chair appropriated to Roman magistrates and dignitaries; pertaining
to, having, or conferring, the right to sit in the curule chair; hence, official.
The curule chair was usually shaped like a camp stool, and provided with curved legs. It was at first
ornamented with ivory, and later sometimes made of ivory and inlaid with gold.
Curule dignity right of sitting in the curule chair.
Cururo
(||Cu*ru"ro) n. [Chilian name.] (Zoöl.) A Chilian burrowing rodent of the genus Spalacopus.
Curval
(Cur"val Cur"vant) (- vant), a. [L. curvans, p. pr. ] (Her.) Bowed; bent; curved.
Curvate
(Cur"vate Cur"va*ted) a. [L. curvatus p. p. of curvare to curve, fr. curvus. See Curve.]
Bent in a regular form; curved.
Curvation
(Cur*va"tion) n. [L. curvatio.] The act of bending or crooking.
Curvative
(Cur"va*tive) a. (Bot.) Having the margins only a little curved; — said of leaves. Henslow.
Curvature
(Cur"va*ture) n. [L. curvatura. See Curvate.]
1. The act of curving, or the state of being bent or curved; a curving or bending, normal or abnormal, as
of a line or surface from a rectilinear direction; a bend; a curve. Cowper.
The elegant curvature of their fronds.
Darwin.
2. (Math.) The amount of degree of bending of a mathematical curve, or the tendency at any point to
depart from a tangent drawn to the curve at that point.
Aberrancy of curvature (Geom.), the deviation of a curve from a circular form. — Absolute curvature.
See under Absolute. — Angle of curvature (Geom.), one that expresses the amount of curvature
of a curve. — Chord of curvature. See under Chord. — Circle of curvature. See Osculating
circle of a curve, under Circle. — Curvature of the spine (Med.), an abnormal curving of the spine,
especially in a lateral direction. — Radius of curvature, the radius of the circle of curvature, or osculatory
circle, at any point of a curve.
Curve
(Curve) a. [L. curvus bent, curved. See Cirb.] Bent without angles; crooked; curved; as, a curve
line; a curve surface.
Curve
(Curve), n. [See Curve, a., Cirb.]
1. A bending without angles; that which is bent; a flexure; as, a curve in a railway or canal.
