curia

[ kyoor-ee-uh ]

noun,plural cu·ri·ae [kyoor-ee-ee]. /ˈkyʊər iˌi/.
  1. one of the political subdivisions of each of the three tribes of ancient Rome.

  2. the building in which such a division or group met, as for worship or public deliberation.

  1. the senate house in ancient Rome.

  2. the senate of an ancient Italian town.

  3. (sometimes initial capital letter) Curia Romana.

  4. the papal court.

  5. the administrative aides of a bishop.

Origin of curia

1
1590–1600; <Latin cūria, perhaps <*coviria, equivalent to co-co- + vir man + -ia-ia

Other words from curia

  • cu·ri·al, adjective

Words Nearby curia

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use curia in a sentence

  • Marius, in order to protect their safety, imprisoned them in a large building, known as the curia Hostilia.

  • The tribe was divided into ten curi; at the head of each curia was a curion.

    History of Julius Caesar Vol. 1 of 2 | Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, 1808-1873.
  • Is fundator erat cuiusdam urbis a seipso denominate, que lingua Anglicana Warwic, id est curia Warmundi, nuncupatur.

    Beowulf | R. W. Chambers
  • Every face, every eye was turned to the curia, in the evident expectation of something great and strange taking place there.

  • Unlike the Grecian phratry and the Roman curia it had no official head.

    Ancient Society | Lewis Henry Morgan

British Dictionary definitions for curia

curia

/ (ˈkjʊərɪə) /


nounplural -riae (-rɪˌiː)
  1. (sometimes capital) the papal court and government of the Roman Catholic Church

  2. (in ancient Rome)

    • any of the ten subdivisions of the Latin, Sabine, or Etruscan tribes

    • a meeting place of such a subdivision

    • the senate house of Rome

    • the senate of an Italian town under Roman administration

  1. (in the Middle Ages) a court held in the king's name: See also Curia Regis

Origin of curia

1
C16: from Latin, from Old Latin coviria (unattested), from co- + vir man

Derived forms of curia

  • curial, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012