3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Curiosity  \Cu`ri*os"i*ty\  (k[=u]`r[i^]*[o^]s"[i^]*t[y^]),  n.; 
  pl  {Curiosities}  (-t[i^]z).  [OE.  curiouste  curiosite,  OF 
  curioset['e],  curiosit['e],  F.  curiosit['e],  fr  L. 
  curiositas  fr  curiosus.  See  {Curious},  and  cf  {Curio}.] 
  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. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  curiosity 
  n  1:  a  state  in  which  you  want  to  learn  more  about  something 
  [syn:  {wonder}] 
  2:  something  unusual  --  perhaps  worthy  of  collecting  [syn:  {curio}, 
  {oddity},  {oddment},  {peculiarity},  {rarity}] 
 
  From  THE  DEVIL'S  DICTIONARY  ((C)1911  Released  April  15  1993)  [devils]: 
 
  CURIOSITY,  n.  An  objectionable  quality  of  the  female  mind.  The 
  desire  to  know  whether  or  not  a  woman  is  cursed  with  curiosity  is  one 
  of  the  most  active  and  insatiable  passions  of  the  masculine  soul. 
 
 

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