Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CURVE, a. [curv; L. curvus, bent, crooked; curvo, to bend, turn, or wind; Fr. courbe, courber; It. curvo, curvare; Sp. curvo, corvar. If b is not radical, this word belongs to Class Gr. W. cor, a circle; but qu., for in Russ. it is krivei.]

Bending; crooked; inflected in a regular form, and forming part of a circle; as a curve line, which may be cut by a right line in more points than one. – Encyc. A curve line is that which is neither a straight line, DO: nor composed of straight lines. – Cyc.