curriculum

American  

[kuh-rik-yuh-luhm] / kəˈrɪk jə ləm /

noun

• curricula,
  plural
• curriculums
  plural

1. the aggregate of courses of study given in a school, college, university, etc..

   The school is adding more science courses to its curriculum.

2. the regular or a particular course of study in a school, college, etc.

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curriculum British  

/ kəˈrɪkjʊləm /

noun

1. a course of study in one subject at a school or college

2. a list of all the courses of study offered by a school or college

3. any programme or plan of activities

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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

• precurriculum
  noun
• curricular
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• curricula
  plural
• curriculums
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

curriculum curricula curriculums

Many major cities, including Beijing, have started to incorporate mental health into the curriculum.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 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

Miriam is one of the first students in Wales to study the curriculum, which she described as "a lot"

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Then he was told about a school that secretly teaches general subjects alongside its religious curriculum.

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

I finally chose the schools to apply to according to the sound of their names, the beauty of their brochures, the personality of the coach’s letter, and the nature of their curriculum.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

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

The words “horsemanship” and “citizenship” appeared in schools’ curricula, along with — from a 1925 ad for King’s Military Academy in Highland Park — “gentlemanship.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026

Indeed, some institutions have eliminated whole offices, revised curricula, and restructured programs.

From Slate ● May 14, 2026

Many promising schools never open—not because of weak demand or unappealing curricula, but because zoning codes and occupancy classifications were written for campuses with hundreds of students.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

I know the answer to every question already, since I’ve studied the seventh- and eighth-grade curricula in Kunu Yaku.

From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau

Popular methodologies today for middle and high schools stress group work, projects, technology, and an oppressive focus on math and science curriculums.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026

That is certainly what Mr Joseph anticipates, as the Western Cape government plans to work more closely with universities to make curriculums a better fit for what outsourcing industry employers need.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2025

“People just don't know how our parents came here. It was never in any of our curriculums to know about this.”

From Salon ● May 20, 2024

And some therapists, like Dr. Schreiber-Pan, are creating their own curriculums.

From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2024

Study after study shows that the leanest curriculums are being offered in the highest-poverty areas, despite ample evidence that this is exactly the wrong thing to do.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

Related Words

• educational program
• syllabus