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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  

/ ˈkjʊərɪ, kyri, -riː /

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

curie Curie

Four Pennsylvania counties have now filed an amicus curie, or friends of the court, brief supporting the Warren County businesses.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 3, 2020

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

The landlady took up the defence of her curie.

From Madame Bovary by Eleanor Marx Aveling

A nearby statue of Marie Curie was removed by college authorities a few weeks later “out of an abundance of caution.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Speaking on the On the Marie Curie Couch podcast, the Doctor Who writer opened up about Andrew Smith, who died in September 2018, following eight years of treatment for glioblastoma multiforme, external.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

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

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

They circled back, and Scythe Curie let Citra off on a side street just a block from where the gleaning had occurred.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

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