Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun See curat.
  • noun According to former use, one who has the cure of souls; a priest; a minister.
  • noun In the Church of England, and in the Irish Roman Catholic Church, a clergyman employed under the incumbent (whether rector or vicar), either as assistant in the same church or in a chapel within the parish and connected with the church.
  • noun A guardian; a protector.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who has the cure of souls; originally, any clergyman, but now usually limited to one who assists a rector or vicar.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun an assistant rector or vicar
  • noun a parish priest
  • verb transitive To act as a curator for.
  • verb transitive To apply selectivity and taste to, as a collection of fashion items or web pages.
  • verb intransitive To work or act as a curator.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a person authorized to conduct religious worship

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Medieval Latin cūrātus.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Back-formation from curator.

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Examples

  • Technically speaking the curate is the one who exercises the cure of souls, and his assistants are vicars and coadjutors; but in this article the word curate is used in its accepted English sense, viz. assistant priest, and corresponds, in a general way, to the vicarius temporalis, auxiliaris presbyter, coadjutor parochi.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 4: Clandestinity-Diocesan Chancery 1840-1916 1913

  • I know the word 'curate' may not be familiar to you in this context, but in the new world of too much data - organizing and filtering information is critically important.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Steve Rosenbaum 2012

  • Our curate is not a man to preach fire and brimstone or scold parishioners for their failings and sins.

    Huellas ...en la Parroquia 2007

  • Our curate is not a man to preach fire and brimstone or scold parishioners for their failings and sins.

    Huellas ...en la Parroquia 2007

  • In English-speaking countries, however, the word curate has gradually become the title of those priests who are assistants to the rector, or parish priest, in the general parochial work of the parish or mission to which they are sent by the bishop of the diocese or his delegate.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 4: Clandestinity-Diocesan Chancery 1840-1916 1913

  • Mr. Pratt, our new curate, is allowed to be a classical scholar of considerable eminence, and he has promised to instruct Sam ....

    The Autobiography of Liuetenant-General Sir Harry Smith, Baronet of Aliwal on the Sutlej, G. C. B. 1903

  • As a girl the word curate inspired in me feelings of respect and sentiment. "

    Men of Affairs Roland Pertwee

  • Until the 1920s, the pastor was a cura animarum, the "cure of souls," or "curate" -- a person who cared for souls by helping people locate themselves in God's greater story.

    Anne Dilenschneider: Soul Care and the Roots of Clergy Burnout 2010

  • Until the 1920s, the pastor was a cura animarum, the "cure of souls" or "curate" -- a person who cared for souls by helping people locate themselves in God's greater story.

    Anne Dilenschneider: Soul Care and the Roots of Clergy Burnout 2010

  • Our curate is a young gentleman of such prepossessing appearance, and fascinating manners, that within one month after his first appearance in the parish, half the young – lady inhabitants were melancholy with religion, and the other half, desponding with love.

    Sketches by Boz 2007

Comments

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  • His curate passed on a bicycle. -Websters Dictionary pg.20

    September 24, 2010

  • As you probably know by now, I continue to curate & cultivate my discernment-its how I keep myself feeling grounded, how I anchor myself. It's not at its full potential: I still make mistakes-usually when I worry what others will think.

    November 5, 2022