- An example of a cur is a dog that has the body characteristics and personalities of many different breeds of dogs.
- An example of a cur is a mean person.
- a dog of mixed breed; mongrel
- a mean, contemptible person
Origin of curMiddle English curre, earlier kurdogge, probably ; from Old Norse or MLowG, as in Swedish dialect, dialectal kurre, Middle Low German korre, dog: basic sense “snarling, growling” ; from Old Norse kurra or Middle Low German korren, to growl
Origin of curéFrench ; from Medieval Latin curatus: see curate
- A dog considered to be inferior or undesirable; a mongrel.
- A base or cowardly person.
Origin of curMiddle English curre, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; see ger&schwa;-2 in Indo-European roots.
From Middle English curre (compare Middle Dutch corre (“house dog”)), shortened from Middle English curdogge or kurdogge, a compound whose second element is clearly dogge (“dog”). The first element is probably from Old Norse kurra (“to growl, grumble”) and related to Middle Low German korren (“to growl”).