Etymology and Spellings
Curriculum vitae is a Latin expression which can be loosely translated as course of life. In current usage, curriculum is less marked as a foreign loanword.
The plural of curriculum vitae, in Latin, is formed following Latin rules of grammar as curricula vitae (meaning "courses of life") — not curriculum vita (which is grammatically incorrect) and not curricula vitarum. The form vitae is the singular genitive of vita and is translated as "of life".
Nevertheless, in English, the plural of the full expression curriculum vitae is seldom used; the plural of curriculum on its own is usually written as "curricula", rather than the traditional curriculums.
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Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)