curriculum
Americannoun
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curricula,
plural
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curriculums
plural
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the aggregate of courses of study given in a school, college, university, etc..
The school is adding more science courses to its curriculum.
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the regular or a particular course of study in a school, college, etc.
noun
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a course of study in one subject at a school or college
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a list of all the courses of study offered by a school or college
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any programme or plan of activities
Usage
Plural word for curriculum The plural form of curriculum can be either curricula or curriculums, although curricula is more commonly used. The plurals of several other singular words that end in -um are also formed in the same way, including memorandum/memoranda, and bacterium/bacteria. Irregular plurals that are formed like curricula derive directly from their original pluralization in Latin. However, the usual plural -s ending is often also acceptable for many of these terms, as in curriculums and memorandums.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of curriculum
First recorded in 1625–35; from Latin: “action of running, course of action, race, chariot,” equivalent to curr(ere) “to run” + -i- -i- + -culum -cule 2
Explanation
A curriculum is a set of courses designed to give expertise, like the shoemaking curriculum at Shoe U: Advanced Cutting, Hammering, and Stitching; History of the Heel; and A Cultural History of Walking. Curriculum comes from the Latin word for "running course," or "career," but when we talk about curriculum it's always about school. If you go to a school with a Liberal Arts curriculum, you'll get an education in the humanities with some science, but if you go to a technical school with a hard-core astrophysics curriculum, you probably won't have to take any courses on poetry.
Vocabulary lists containing curriculum
The Vocabulary of College
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Make a Run for It: Cur, Curs
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Schooled
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Gonzalez-Olaechea is a former senior adviser and spokesman to former UN chief Javier Perez de Cuellar, his curriculum vitae says.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
Bleiker now applies the findings to the development of curriculum interventions and early mathematics programs.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
Soon after being sworn in, he froze research funding at some universities and demanded changes in faculty and curriculum.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
“The real attraction of professional sports is it seems somewhat recession-proof,” said James Adams, director of CFA program curriculum and an adjunct professor at New York University.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Eva goes to a Catholic school; her curriculum has always been a little different than mine.
From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day
Some say customers aren’t exactly paying for innovation, but rather for decades of familiarity on the educator side — along with textbooks that build the calculators into their curricula.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Licensing for film screenings at schools starts at $49, while corporate licensing for her films starts at $995; purchase of screening rights also comes with curricula to facilitate discussions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
And in New York City, some have asked schools to delay products and curricula based on artificial intelligence for two years until educators better understand them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
Universities might redesign curricula around anticipated AI displacement rather than the skills employers actually demand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
One area of concern is the shrinking playground time during the school day due to an emphasis on more test-driven curricula.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
Without meaningful time in the library, college degrees rarely produce the humanist individual their curriculums intend.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 9, 2025
Universities across the country went from teaching in classrooms to offering full-time curriculums online.
From Salon ● Mar. 17, 2024
A new UC Berkeley course, “Artistry & Entrepreneurship: Taylor’s Version,” is the latest in a wave of higher education curriculums that highlight Taylor Swift’s ascent to global phenomenon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2024
And on Wednesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York announced a proposal to require schools to use “scientifically proven” reading curriculums by 2025, and to invest $10 million in retraining teachers.
From New York Times ● Jan. 3, 2024
He’d been researching online high school curriculums ever since the homeschool question first came up, and now he was ready.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
