curia

See also: Curia and cúria

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *kowiriomder.?

Latin curiabor.

English curia

Borrowed from Latin curia.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkjʊəriə/
• Rhymes: -ʊəɹiə

Noun

curia (plural curias or curiae)

1. (historical) Any of the subdivisions of a tribe in ancient Rome
2. (historical) The Roman senate during the republic
3. (historical) Any of several medieval councils or courts of justice

Related terms

• Curia
• curial
• curiate
• curia regis

Translations

any of the subdivisions of a tribe in ancient Rome

• Catalan: cúria (ca) f
• Portuguese: cúria (pt) f

the Roman senate during the republic

• Catalan: cúria (ca) f
• Portuguese: cúria (pt) f

any of several medieval councils or courts of justice

• Czech: kurie (cs) f

Anagrams

• Cairu, auric, cauri

Italian

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin cūria.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈku.rja/
• Rhymes: -urja
• Hyphenation: cù‧ria

Noun

curia f (plural curie)

1. diocese
2. the Curia
3. a professional association

Anagrams

• arcui, curai, urica

Latin

Etymology 1

Possibly from Proto-Italic *kowiriom. Usually assumed to be equivalent to *coviria, consisting of co- (“together”) + vir (“man”) + -ia (noun-forming suffix), with syncope along the lines of *kowir- > *kowr- > *kour- > cūr-. Compare iūstus, nūndinus, and perhaps (much more dubiously) cūnctus.

Noun

cūria f (genitive cūriae); first declension

1. court
2. senate or meeting house
3. (Medieval Latin) council, senate

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	cūria	cūriae
genitive	cūriae	cūriārum
dative	cūriae	cūriīs
accusative	cūriam	cūriās
ablative	cūriā	cūriīs
vocative	cūria	cūriae

Synonyms

• (governing council): senatus, parlamentum (Medieval)

Derived terms

• curiālis
• curiātim

Descendants

• → English: curia
• → French: curie
• → Italian: curia
• → Portuguese: cúria
• → Spanish: curia

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

curia

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of curium

Further reading

• “curia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "curia", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “curia”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “curia”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “curia”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
• “curia”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• “curia”, in Richard Stillwell et al., editor (1976), The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press

Portuguese

Verb

curia

1. inflection of curiar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Sicilian

Noun

curia f

1. alternative spelling of curria

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *kowiriomder.?

Latin cūria

Spanish curia

From Latin cūria.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkuɾja/ [ˈku.ɾja]
• Rhymes: -uɾja
• Syllabification: cu‧ria

Noun

curia f (plural curias)

1. curia

Further reading

• “curia”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025