curate

American  

[kyoor-it, kyoo-rayt, kyoor-ayt] / ˈkjʊər ɪt, kjʊˈreɪt, ˈkjʊər eɪt /

noun

1. Chiefly British. a member of the clergy employed to assist a rector or vicar.

2. any ecclesiastic entrusted with the cure of souls, as a parish priest.

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verb (used with object)

curated, curating

1. to take charge of (a museum) or organize (an art exhibit).

   to curate a photography show.

2. to pull together, sift through, and select for presentation, as music or website content.

   “We curate our merchandise with a sharp eye for trending fashion,” the store manager explained.

curate ¹ British  

/ ˈkjʊərɪt /

noun

1. a clergyman appointed to assist a parish priest

2. a clergyman who has the charge of a parish ( curate-in-charge )

3. an assistant barman

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curate ² British  

/ kjʊəˈreɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to be in charge of (an art exhibition or museum)

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Other Word Forms

• curateship
  noun
• curation
  noun
• subcurate
  noun
• curatic
  adjective
• curatical
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of curate

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English curat, from Anglo-French or directly from Medieval Latin cūrātus, equivalent to Latin cūr(a) “care” + -ātus -ate ¹

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Explanation

When you curate something, you organize and present it. If you work for a museum, you might curate an exhibit of abstract sculpture. The noun curate originally referred to anyone taking care of church property in some way. Nowadays, the noun generally refers to a person with religious training who conducts religious services. Curate comes from the word cure, and a curate is supposed to cure that most important part of you — your soul. When you curate a museum exhibit — or a selection of 1980s fashion for your retro blog — you care for or manage it just as a curate cares for a parish.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

curate curated curating

McLendon, 26, and Estrada, 29, have both been contracted to curate four concerts, in different LA Phil venues, for two years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

The label hired City Country Beach, an agency that organizes private luxury experiences, to curate the guest list and set the program.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

Smartphones have fooled us into thinking that we curate what our screens show us.

From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026

Recommendation algorithms are the tools that Meta uses to automatically curate the content a user sees on its platforms.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

Thomas Malthus had been a curate at the Okewood Chapel in Surrey by daytime, but he was a closet economist by night.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Tanisha, who is also a singer-songwriter and producer, feels in a world where algorithms influence what we listen to, it's important to still have platforms curated by music lovers.

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026

Streaming services may offer 50,000-song catalogs, but HiHo’s 12,000-plus book is curated by its hosts and clientele.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026

Today’s newsletter was curated by Natasha Dangoor in London, in collaboration with Bharbi Hazarika in New York.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026

Ertel, an interior designer, painstakingly curated the room.

From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2026

Everything she and Clara had so carefully curated over nearly seventy years was aflame, already beyond rescuing.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

Countless others have stories of being confronted by social media content they didn't seek out, and didn't want to see – and there's long been suspicions the algorithms curating these platforms are harming users.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

The streamer makes it easy to host a film festival at home, regularly curating new lineups with titles both obscure and populist.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

During a panel about the relationship between fashion and food, Onwuachi discussed curating the menu for the 2025 MET Gala, whose theme was “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.”

From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2026

Coldplay's Chris Martin is curating the extravaganza, a first for a football World Cup final and one that has raised concerns over how long the game's halftime break will be.

From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026

In curating a book club, the members insist that diversity of opinion is key.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026

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