curvet

English

Etymology

From Italian corvetta, diminutive of corva, an early form of curva ‘curve’, from Latin curva feminine of curvus ‘bent, curved’.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɜːˈvɛt/

Verb

curvet (third-person singular simple present curvets, present participle curveting or curvetting, simple past and past participle curveted or curvetted)

1. (of a horse) To leap about, frolic.

   • 1963, Firelily, under him, seemed sexually aroused, she curveted and frolicked so about the line of march, covering five miles to the prisoners’ one. — Thomas Pynchon, V.

Noun

curvet (plural curvets)

1. A particular leap of a horse, when he raises both forelegs at once, equally advanced, and, as his forelegs are falling, raises his hind legs, so that all his legs are in the air at once.
2. A prank; a frolic.

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Latin

Verb

curvet

1. third-person singular present active subjunctive of curvō