Wordwyrt

curse

/ˈkɜːs/KURS
/ˈkɝs/KURS

Meaningcall down evil

Common meaning: express a wish for harm or use offensive language

Journey through time

  1. Old Englishcursian‘call down evil’sourceB&T
  2. Middle Englishcursiensource
  3. Englishmeaning shiftscall down evil → express a wish for harm or use offensive languagecurse‘express a wish for harm or use offensive language’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Old English cursian ‘call down evil’.

Roots

  • cursian Old English “call down evil”

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