WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Cu`ri*os"i*ty (k`r-s"-t)
Part of Speech : n.;
Etymology : [OE. curiouste, curiosite, OF. curioset?, curiosit?, F. curiosit, fr. L. curiositas, fr. curiosus. See Currious, and cf. Curio.]
Definition : 1. The state or quality or being curious; nicety; accuracy; exactness; elaboration. [Obs.] Bacon. When thou wast in thy gilt and thy perfume, they mocked thee for too much curiosity. Shak. A screen accurately cut in tapiary work . . . with great curiosity. Evelin.

2. Disposition to inquire, investigate, or seek after knowledge; a desire to gratify the mind with new information or objects of interest; inquisitiveness. Milton.

3. That which is curious, or fitted to excite or reward attention. We took a ramble together to see the curiosities of this great town. Addison. There hath been practiced also a curiosity, to set a tree upon the north side of a wall, and, at a little hieght, to draw it through the wall, etc. Bacon.

pl. Curiosities (-t.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913