CURVATURE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Curvature

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/kˈərvətʃər/ Listen

noun

Curvature n.

The act of curving, or the state of being bent or curved; a curving or bending, normal or abnormal, as of a line or surface from a rectilinear direction; a bend; a curve. "The elegant curvature of their fronds."

(Math.) The amount of degree of bending of a mathematical curve, or the tendency at any point to depart from a tangent drawn to the curve at that point.

Aberrancy of curvature (Geom.), the deviation of a curve from a circular form.

Absolute curvature. See under Absolute.

Angle of curvature (Geom.), one that expresses the amount of curvature of a curve.

Chord of curvature. See under Chord.

Circle of curvature. See Osculating circle of a curve, under Circle.

Curvature of the spine (Med.), an abnormal curving of the spine, especially in a lateral direction.

Radius of curvature, the radius of the circle of curvature, or osculatory circle, at any point of a curve.

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Etymology of 'Curvature'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Curvature" Quotes from Famous Books

... of the forty-second parallel of latitude. That line, and the country from the Arkansas to the Yellowstone, was explored and developed mainly by private enterprise, and it is by far the most practicable line crossing the continent —the shortest and quickest, of lightest curvature, and lowest grades and summits. It is not, in an engineering point of view, the true line from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but in a commercial ...

— The Great Salt Lake Trail • Colonel Henry Inman

... road so shut up, that it was necessary that a man should go ahead with a sword to cut away the creepers. The forest abounded with beautiful objects; among which the tree ferns, though not large, were, from their bright green foliage, and the elegant curvature of their fronds, most worthy of admiration. In the evening it rained very heavily, and although the thermometer stood at 65 degs., I felt very cold. As soon as the rain ceased, it was curious to observe the extraordinary ...

— The Voyage of the Beagle • Charles Darwin

... than a vast assemblage of bats suspended, and asleep! They were hanging in all possible positions; some with their heads down, some by the claws upon either wing, and some by both, while a great many had merely hooked over the branch the little horny curvature of their tails. Some hung down along the trunk, suspended by a crack in the bark, while others were far out ...

— Popular Adventure Tales • Mayne Reid

... had spent most of his life in hot-houses, the kitchen had always to have a big fire blazing in order that the old man might have the heat necessary for his comfort. It appeared that Mrs Budd's third daughter had died from curvature of the spine. The mother related with great pride how that, just before death, the girl's spine had formed the figure of a perfect "hess." Mavis was also informed that Mrs Budd could not think of knowing her next-door neighbour, because this person paid a penny a pound less for her suet ...

— Sparrows - The Story of an Unprotected Girl • Horace W. C. Newte

... course I'd followed last week. I was getting used to this narrow horizon, so I didn't feel so much like being cooped under a big bowl, but one does keep overestimating distances. Something four miles away looks eight when you're used to terrestrial curvature, and that makes you guess its size just four times too large. A little hill looks like a mountain until ...

— Valley of Dreams • Stanley Grauman Weinbaum

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