curriculum
Definitions
The subjects and content taught in a school or program
课程，课程体系
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedFrom Latin curriculum, 'a running, a racecourse, a lap' (from currere, to run). The metaphor: a curriculum is the 'track' students run through during a program of study. -iculum is a Latin diminutive ending.
Root car still carries 96 more wordsWhy It Means This
In Latin a curriculum was a small chariot or the lap it ran around a racetrack. Roman students didn't have curricula — the educational sense is modern, coined when scholars borrowed the racetrack image to describe the 'course' a student runs through a school. It's a sibling of 'course,' which traveled the same road from racetrack to classroom.
Usage Guide
Latin plural curricula is standard in formal/academic English (curriculums also accepted). Note 'curriculum vitae' (CV) — literally 'the course of one's life,' the same racetrack metaphor as career.
Example Sentences
- 1.
The school is updating its science curriculum.
- 2.
Music is part of the core curriculum here.
- 3.
Many universities have a standardized curriculum.