curator

noun

cu·​ra·​tor ˈkyu̇r-ˌā-tər 

ˈkyər-;

kyu̇-ˈrā-;

ˈkyu̇r-ə-,

ˈkyər- 

plural curators

: a person who oversees or manages a place (such as a museum or zoo) that offers exhibits

"My passion for animal care and collection management really drove me to become a curator."

—Scott Newland

also : a person at a museum, zoo, etc. who is in charge of a specific collection or subject area

the curator of manuscripts

curatorial

ˌkyu̇r-ə-ˈtȯr-ē-əl 

ˌkyər-

adjective

curatorship

ˈkyu̇r-ˌā-tər-ˌship 

ˈkyər-;

kyu̇-ˈrā-;

ˈkyu̇r-ə-

ˈkyər-

noun

Did you know?

In a good-sized art museum, each curator is generally responsible for a single department or collection: European painting, Asian sculpture, Native American art, and so on. Curatorial duties include acquiring new artworks, caring for and repairing objects already owned, discovering frauds and counterfeits, lending artworks to other museums, and mounting exhibitions of everything from Greek sculpture to 20th-century clothing.

Examples of curator in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The call was transferred to Johnston, curator of transportation at the American history museum. —George Petras, USA TODAY, 11 Apr. 2024

Antarctica’s meteorite largess isn’t because more extraterrestrial stuff is falling there, Cari Corrigan, a geologist at the Smithsonian Institution and a curator of the National Museum of Natural History’s meteorite collection, said. —Katherine Kornei, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2024

In January, the film played at the first edition of Festival of Young Cinema (Asia-Europe) in Macau, spearheaded by veteran film festival curator and director Marco Mueller. —Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 5 Apr. 2024

George Millay, a former stockbroker and successful restaurateur, was looking for a new challenge and found just that after talking to a customer, Kenny Norris, curator of fish and mammals at Marineland. —Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Apr. 2024

But the Menil show’s curator, Natalie Dupêcher, said a more important factor was the sudden loss of Guggenheim as her patron. —Helen Stoilas, CNN, 1 Apr. 2024

Art fairs have also become pivotal occasions where connections can be made between dealers, curators, galleries, artists and buyers. —Pearl Lam, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024

Museum curator Matthew Skic first saw the sketch during a tour of art collector Judith Hernstadt’s New York City apartment last year. —Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Mar. 2024

The curator of this show, Brad Dunning, was also the coordinator of that shoot shortly before the architect passed away in 1998 at 95 years old. —John Oseid, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin cūrātor "one who looks after, superintendent, guardian," from cūrāre "to watch over, attend" + -tor, agent suffix — more at cure entry 2

First Known Use

1660, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing curator

• co-curator

Kids Definition

curator

noun

cu·​ra·​tor ˈkyu̇(ə)r-ˌāt-ər  kyu̇-ˈrāt- 

ˈkyu̇r-ət-

: a person in charge of a museum or zoo

curatorship

-ˌship 

noun

Legal Definition

curator

noun

cu·​ra·​tor ˈkyu̇r-ˌā-tər, kyu̇-ˈrā-tər 

in the civil law of Louisiana : a person appointed by a court to care for the property of an absent person or to care for the person or property of someone mentally incapable of doing so compare committee, conservator, guardian, interdict, tutor

curatorship noun

Etymology

Latin, guardian, from curare to take care of