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• curie
  curie

  noun

  a unit of activity of radioactive substances equivalent to 3.70 × 10 10 disintegrations per second: it is approximately the amount of activity produced by 1 gram of radium-226. Ci
• Curie
  Curie

  noun

  Irène Joliot-Curie, Irène.

curie

¹ American  

[kyoor-ee, kyoo-ree] / ˈkjʊər i, kjʊˈri /

noun

Physics, Chemistry.

1. a unit of activity of radioactive substances equivalent to 3.70 × 10 10 disintegrations per second: it is approximately the amount of activity produced by 1 gram of radium-226. Ci

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Curie ² American  

[kyoor-ee, kyoo-ree, ky-ree] / ˈkjʊər i, kjʊˈri, küˈri /

noun

1. Irène Joliot-Curie, Irène.

2. Marie 1867–1934, Polish physicist and chemist in France: codiscoverer of radium 1898; Nobel Prize in Physics 1903, for chemistry 1911.

3. her husband Pierre 1859–1906, French physicist and chemist: codiscoverer of radium; Nobel Prize in Physics 1903.

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Curie ¹ British  

/ -riː, kyri, ˈkjʊərɪ /

noun

1. Marie (mari). 1867–1934, French physicist and chemist, born in Poland: discovered with her husband Pierre the radioactivity of thorium, and discovered and isolated radium and polonium. She shared a Nobel prize for physics (1903) with her husband and Henri Becquerel, and was awarded a Nobel prize for chemistry (1911)

2. her husband, Pierre (pjɛr). 1859–1906, French physicist and chemist

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curie ² British  

/ ˈkjʊərɪ, -riː /

noun

1.  Ci.  a unit of radioactivity that is equal to 3.7 × 10 ¹⁰ disintegrations per second

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Curie ¹ Scientific  

1. Polish-born French chemist who pioneered research into radioactivity. Following Antoine Henri Becquerel's discovery of radioactivity, she investigated uranium with her husband, Pierre Curie (1859–1906). Together they discovered the elements radium and polonium. Marie Curie later isolated pure radium and developed the use of radioactivity in medicine.

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curie ² Scientific  

/ kyr′ē,ky-rē′ /

1. A unit used to measure the rate of radioactive decay. Radioactive decay is measured by the rate at which the atoms making up a radioactive substance are transformed into different atoms. One curie is equal to 37 billion (3.7 × 10 ¹⁰) of these transformations per second. Many scientists now measure radioactive decay in becquerels rather than curies.

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Etymology

Origin of curie

First recorded in 1910; named in memory of Pierre Curie

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

curie Curie

Michael has even submitted an "amicus curie" or "friend-of-the-court" brief in a Supreme Court case as recently as 2019.

From Fox News ● May 14, 2020

In 1952, the Truman administration submitted a significant amicus curie brief in Brown v.

From Salon ● Dec. 23, 2018

A curie is a large unit of activity, while a becquerel is a relatively small unit.

From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015

And a brief science lesson: a curie is a unit of radioactivity named after radium discoverers Marie and Pierre Curie — roughly equivalent to the amount of radioactivity in a gram of the radium-226 isotope.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 22, 2014

The landlady took up the defence of her curie.

From Madame Bovary by Aveling, Eleanor Marx

Her work expanded beyond stories connected to Iran, including "Radioactive", a 2019 biopic about pioneering radioactivity researcher and Nobel-prize winner Marie Curie, starring Rosamund Pike.

From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026

Marie Curie observed that certain uranium minerals produced much more radiation than uranium alone could explain.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 14, 2026

She is the study's lead author and carried out the research while she was a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Leeds.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 25, 2026

Barry died from bone cancer aged 73 in 2018 and was given end-of-life care by Marie Curie nurses.

From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025

The cloud of rage that billowed forth from Scythe Curie was so powerful it was almost a visible thing, and Citra knew she had made a terrible mistake.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman