Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A cleric, especially one who has charge of a parish.
- n. A cleric who assists a rector or vicar.
- v. To act as curator of; organize and oversee.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. According to former use, one who has the cure of souls; a priest; a minister.
- n. In the Church of England, and in the Irish Roman Catholic Church, a clergyman employed under the incumbent (whether rector or vicar), either as assistant in the same church or in a chapel within the parish and connected with the church. The curate is the priest of lowest degree in the Church of England; he must be licensed by the bishop or ordinary. The term is not in use in the United States.
- n. A guardian; a protector.
- n. See curat.
Wiktionary
- n. an assistant rector or vicar
- n. a parish priest
- v. transitive To act as a curator for.
- v. transitive To apply selectivity and taste to, as a collection of fashion items or web pages.
- v. intransitive To work or act as a curator.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. One who has the cure of souls; originally, any clergyman, but now usually limited to one who assists a rector or vicar.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a person authorized to conduct religious worship
Etymologies
- Back-formation from curator. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English curat, from Medieval Latin cūrātus, from Late Latin cūra, spiritual charge, from Latin, care; see cure.Back-formation from curator. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Technically speaking the curate is the one who exercises the cure of souls, and his assistants are vicars and coadjutors; but in this article the word curate is used in its accepted English sense, viz. assistant priest, and corresponds, in a general way, to the vicarius temporalis, auxiliaris presbyter, coadjutor parochi.”
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 4: Clandestinity-Diocesan Chancery
“I know the word 'curate' may not be familiar to you in this context, but in the new world of too much data - organizing and filtering information is critically important.”
“Our curate is not a man to preach fire and brimstone or scold parishioners for their failings and sins.”
“In English-speaking countries, however, the word curate has gradually become the title of those priests who are assistants to the rector, or parish priest, in the general parochial work of the parish or mission to which they are sent by the bishop of the diocese or his delegate.”
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 4: Clandestinity-Diocesan Chancery
“Mr. Pratt, our new curate, is allowed to be a classical scholar of considerable eminence, and he has promised to instruct Sam ....”
The Autobiography of Liuetenant-General Sir Harry Smith, Baronet of Aliwal on the Sutlej, G. C. B.
“As a girl the word curate inspired in me feelings of respect and sentiment. ”
“Until the 1920s, the pastor was a cura animarum, the "cure of souls," or "curate" -- a person who cared for souls by helping people locate themselves in God's greater story.”
The Huffington Post: Anne Dilenschneider: Soul Care and the Roots of Clergy Burnout
“Until the 1920s, the pastor was a cura animarum, the "cure of souls" or "curate" -- a person who cared for souls by helping people locate themselves in God's greater story.”
The Huffington Post: Anne Dilenschneider: Soul Care and the Roots of Clergy Burnout
“Our curate is a young gentleman of such prepossessing appearance, and fascinating manners, that within one month after his first appearance in the parish, half the young – lady inhabitants were melancholy with religion, and the other half, desponding with love.”
“‘I might say a curate is a soldier — of the church militant; but I don’t want to offend you with doctrine.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘curate’.
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POL - people in power
daredevil, tzar, king, boss, master, commander, chief, kingpin, top banana, bigwig, big cheese, big wheel and 452 more...
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WF - list of EN back-formations
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_back-formations
aborigine, accrete, acculturate, admix, admixture, adolesce, adsorb, adulate, advect, aesthete, air-condition, anticline and 212 more...
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museum words
words from work
provenance, accession, deaccession, conservation, preparator, registrar, curator, jargon, Oz clip, bell plate, stretcher, ornate and 115 more...
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phrontistery - c
from phrontistery.info
caballine, cabas, cable, caboched, cabochon, caboose, cabotage, cabré, cabrie, cabriole, cabriolet, cacaesthesia and 1298 more...
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Tristram Shandy
souse, meet, sententious, propound, boot, casuistry, avoirdupois, akimbo, disport, lenity, succussation, sweetbread and 160 more...
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September Words-11337
During the month of September, post at least 10 new words to this list. Make sure you cite where you read the word (book/author/pg) and quote the context/sentence where you found it. If someone has...
flabbergasted, discombobulated, inclination, serendipity, savvy, profound, incarnation, myriad, confiscate, audacity, deciduous, adieu and 79 more...
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remnants of a catholic childhood
extreme unction, viaticum, maundy thursday, spy wednesday, good friday, papabile, monstrance, septuagesima, monsignor, thurible, chasuble, alb and 110 more...
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Verba Dilecta
delectable, notate, pauciloquy, paucity, pauciloquent, paucify, interscapilium, uropygium, inferna, nota, equipollent, prepollent and 677 more...
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Quaintnesses
For those who wish no words were ever forgotten
opprobrium, tedium, encomium, odium, ire, enmity, beguile, wile, brazen, popinjay, squit, hoity-toity and 1161 more...
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NTDW1
template, modal, sublingual, tandem, polycentric, septuagenarian, token, irrevocable, denotive, augural, aberrant, phlebotomy and 1188 more...
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ulyssean
... as in "by James Joyce"
stately, plump, aloft, gurgling, untonsured, chrysostomos, jowl, parapet, jesuit, indigestion, scutter, noserag and 688 more...
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cloudjuice's Words
schadenfreude, sordid, promulgate, erratic, erroneous, amalgamate, sesquipedalian, incongruous, psychosis, etymology, simulacrum, serendipity and 988 more...
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The Collection
A somewhat discriminatory list of words and phrases collected for their euphonic or arcane appeal, interesting etymology, or concise definition of an otherwise unnamed phenomenon or concept.
ziggurat, neophilia, sucker punch, soporific, epoch, tundra, fiat, idiotproof, miscellany, metaphysics, cryptozoology, dysphoria and 850 more...
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Joshee Word List
gash, engross, entail, stoke, ode, vacillate, aspersion, asperity, clan, kith, prospect, nag and 229 more...
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TheLastGoodNameLeft
The Last Good Words Left
ephemera, gammon, errata, ellipses, octopi, heteronormative, polyp, intersectionality, theses, california, halfback, fullback and 555 more...
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words I love
uncouth, milquetoast, clusterfuck, salacious, usurp, harpoon, unsavoury, bulwark, legerdemain, qualm, quagmire, trumps and 209 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for curate.

lweber5@scf.edu His curate passed on a bicycle. -Websters Dictionary pg.20
Sep 23, 2010