curvilinear

adj

"curvilinear" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“curvilinear” is uncommon English (frequency #67,343 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#67,343
frequency rank, English
43,570
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Having bends; curved; curvilineal.

Key facts for curvilinear
PropertyValue
Headwordcurvilinear
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters11
Frequency rank#67,343
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “curvilinear” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). curvilinear lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

curvilinear is uncommon English at frequency #67,343 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for curvilinear, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From curve + -i- + linear, compare curve, linear. The correct English form is curvilinear, spelled C-U-R-V-I-L-I-N-E-A-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Having bends; curved; curvilineal.
  2. 2
    Formed by curved lines.

Etymology

From curve + -i- + linear, compare curve, linear.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "curvilinear"?
"curvilinear" is spelled C-U-R-V-I-L-I-N-E-A-R.
What does "curvilinear" mean?
As an adjective, "curvilinear" means: Having bends; curved; curvilineal.
What is the origin of the word "curvilinear"?
From curve + -i- + linear, compare curve, linear. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “curvilinear”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-U-R-V-I-L-I-N-E-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list