cure
/kjɔː/noun, verb
cure is spelled C-U-R-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,153rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cure means “A method, device or medication that restores good health” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cure is cures.
How many letters and syllables are in cure?
| Letters | 4: C-U-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 21 times per million words; the 4,153rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is cure?
Cure appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,153rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cure?
- /kjɔː/
- /kjʊə/
- British /kjɵː/
Cure has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-cure.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with cure?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as cure.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: ecru.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of cure
- cures plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- curing participle, present
- cured participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cure mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A method, device or medication that restores good health.
- 2
An act of healing or state of being healed; restoration to health after a disease, or to soundness after injury.
- 3
A solution to a problem.
- 4
A process of preservation, as by smoking.
- 5
Cured fish.
- 6
A process of solidification or gelling.
- 7
A process whereby a material is caused to form permanent molecular linkages by exposure to chemicals, heat, pressure or weathering.
- 8
obsoleteCare, heed, or attention.
- 9
UKobsoleteslangAn eccentric person.
verb
- 1
To restore to health.
Unaided nature cured him.
- 2
To bring (a disease or its bad effects) to an end.
Unaided nature cured his ailments.
- 3
To cause to be rid of (a defect).
Experience will cure him of his naïveté.
- 4
To prepare or alter, especially by chemical or physical processing for keeping or use.
The smoke and heat cures the meat.
- 5
To preserve (food), typically by salting.
- 6
To bring about a cure of any kind.
- 7
To undergo a chemical or physical process for preservation or use.
The meat was put in the smokehouse to cure.
- 8
To solidify or gel.
The parts were curing in the autoclave.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cure in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | traitement , guérison , durcissement, prise , soigner, guérir |
| German | Heilung , kurieren, heilen , Pökelung , haltbar machen, einlegen |
| Portuguese | cura , recuperação, convalescença , curar, sanar , remédio |
| Spanish | cura, curación, remedio , curar , curado , curtir |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cure come from?
From Middle English cure, borrowed from Old French cure (“care, cure, healing, cure of souls”), from Latin cura (“care, medical attendance, cure”). Displaced native Old English hǣlu, but this survived as heal.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).