curiosity

B1 Topic:Mind & Cognition

US /ˌkjʊɹ.iˈɑ.sə.ti/ UK /ˌkjʊə.ɹiˈɒs.ə.ti/ See IPA manual

Freq #5650

Meanings

1

noun
A strong desire to know or learn about something.

Her curiosity led her to read everything she could find on the subject.
2

noun
An unusual or interesting object that attracts attention.

The old shop was full of curiosities from around the world.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a strong desire to know or... inquisitiveness wonder

2 noun · an unusual or interesting... curio

Word family

Forms curiosities

Derived forms bi-curiositycuriouncuriosity

Related forms curious

Etymology

From Middle English curiosite, variant of curiouste, from Anglo-Norman curiouseté, from Latin cūriōsitātem, accusative of cūriōsitās. By surface analysis, curious + -ity. Displaced native Old English firwitt.

curiosite Middle English curiouseté xno cūriōsitātem Latin

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# curiosity

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˌkjʊɹ.iˈɑ.sə.ti/
**IPA (UK):** /ˌkjʊə.ɹiˈɒs.ə.ti/
**Frequency rank:** 5650

## Meanings
1. A strong desire to know or learn about something.
2. An unusual or interesting object that attracts attention.

## Examples
- Her curiosity led her to read everything she could find on the subject.
- The old shop was full of curiosities from around the world.

## Derived Forms
- bi-curiosity
- curio
- uncuriosity

## Related Forms
- curious

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: curiosite
- Root: curiouseté
- Root: cūriōsitātem
- Affix: -ity - state

## Etymology
From Middle English curiosite, variant of curiouste, from Anglo-Norman curiouseté, from Latin cūriōsitātem, accusative of cūriōsitās. By surface analysis, curious + -ity. Displaced native Old English firwitt.

## AI Etymology
curiosity comes from Middle English curiosite, variant of curiouste, from Anglo-Norman curiouseté, from Latin cūriōsitātem, accusative of cūriōsitās. By surface analysis, curious + -ity. Displaced native Old English firwitt. The historical chain includes Middle English curiosite, xno curiouseté, Latin cūriōsitātem. Current senses include A strong desire to know or learn about something and An unusual or interesting object that attracts attention. English relatives and later formations include bi-curiosity, curio, uncuriosity, curious.

## Topics
- Mind & Cognition

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curiosity

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