different between span vs curve

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English spanne, from Old English spann, from Proto-Germanic *spann? (“span, handbreadth”). Cognate with Dutch span, spanne, German Spanne. The sense “pair of horses” is probably from Old English ?espan, ?espann (“a joining; a fastening together; clasp; yoke”), from Proto-West Germanic [Term?]. Cognate with Dutch gespan, German Gespann.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American)
  • IPA^(key): /spæn/
• • Rhymes: -æn
• (Australian English)
  • IPA^(key): /spæ?n/
  • Rhymes: -æ?n

Noun

span (plural spans)

1. The space from the thumb to the end of the little finger when extended; nine inches; an eighth of a fathom.
2. (by extension) A small space or a brief portion of time.
   • 1699, George Farquhar, The Constant Couple

     Life's but a span; I'll every inch enjoy.

   • 2007. Zerzan, John. Silence.

     The unsilent present is a time of evaporating attention spans,

3. A portion of something by length; a subsequence.
   • 2004, Robert Harris, Robert Warner, The Definitive Guide to SWT and JFace (page 759)

     For example, in OpenOffice.org or Microsoft Word, each span of text can have a style that defines key characteristics about the text: • What font it uses • Whether it's normal, bolded, italicized, […]

4. (architecture, construction) The spread or extent of an arch or between its abutments, or of a beam, girder, truss, roof, bridge, or the like, between supports.
5. (architecture, construction) The length of a cable, wire, rope, chain between two consecutive supports.
6. (nautical) A rope having its ends made fast so that a purchase can be hooked to the bight; also, a rope made fast in the center so that both ends can be used.
7. (US, Canada) A pair of horses or other animals driven together; usually, such a pair of horses when similar in color, form, and action.
8. (mathematics) The space of all linear combinations of something.
9. (computing) The time required to execute a parallel algorithm on an infinite number of processors, i.e. the shortest distance across a directed acyclic graph representing the computation steps.

Derived terms

• attention span
• eyespan
• memory span
• spanless

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English spannen, from Old English spannan, from Proto-Germanic *spannan? (“to stretch, span”). Cognate with German spannen, Dutch spannen.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) and GenAm
  • IPA^(key): /spæn/
  • Rhymes: -æn
• AusE
  • IPA^(key): /spæ?n/
  • Rhymes: -æ?n

Verb

span (third-person singular simple present spans, present participle spanning, simple past and past participle spanned)

1. (transitive) To extend through the distance between or across.

   The suspension bridge spanned the canyon.

   • 1856-1858, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip II

     The rivers were spanned by arches of solid masonry.

2. (transitive) To extend through (a time period).

   The parking lot spans three acres.

   The novel spans three centuries.

3. (transitive) To measure by the span of the hand with the fingers extended, or with the fingers encompassing the object.

   to span a space or distance; to span a cylinder
4. (mathematics) To generate an entire space by means of linear combinations.
5. (intransitive, US, dated) To be matched, as horses.
6. (transitive) To fetter, as a horse; to hobble.

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English span, from Old English spann, from Proto-Germanic *spann, first and third person singular preterit indicative of Proto-Germanic *spinnan? (“to spin”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian, General American) IPA^(key): /spæn/
  • Rhymes: -æn

Verb

span

1. (archaic, now nonstandard) simple past tense of spin

Anagrams

• ANPs, NPAS, NSPA, PANs, PNAS, PNAs, Pans, SNAP, naps, pans, snap

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sp?n/
• Hyphenation: span
• Rhymes: -?n

Etymology 1

From older gespan.

Noun

span n (plural spannen, diminutive spannetje n)

1. A span, a team (pair or larger team of draught animals). [from 17th c.]
2. A cart or instrument with a team of draught animals. [from 18th c.]
3. A romantic pair, couple. [from 19th c.]

Derived terms

• driespan
• tweespan
• vierspan
• zesspan

Descendants

• Afrikaans: span

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

span

1. first-person singular present indicative of spannen
2. imperative of spannen

Anagrams

• snap

Middle English

Noun

span

1. Alternative form of spanne

Sranan Tongo

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch gespannen.

Noun

span

1. tense

West Frisian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

span n (plural spannen, diminutive spantsje)

1. span, team (pair of draught animals in a team)
2. pair, couple

Further reading

• “span (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

English

Etymology

From Latin curvus (“bent, curved”). Doublet of curb.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /k??v/, [?k???v]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /k?v/, [?k??v]
• Rhymes: -??(?)v

Adjective

curve

1. (obsolete) Bent without angles; crooked; curved.

Translations

Noun

curve (plural curves)

1. A gentle bend, such as in a road.

2. A simple figure containing no straight portions and no angles; a curved line.

3. A grading system based on the scale of performance of a group used to normalize a right-skewed grade distribution (with more lower scores) into a bell curve, so that more can receive higher grades, regardless of their actual knowledge of the subject.

4. (analytic geometry) A continuous map from a one-dimensional space to a multidimensional space.
5. (geometry) A one-dimensional figure of non-zero length; the graph of a continuous map from a one-dimensional space.
6. (algebraic geometry) An algebraic curve; a polynomial relation of the planar coordinates.
7. (topology) A one-dimensional continuum.
8. (informal, usually in the plural) The attractive shape of a woman's body.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

curve (third-person singular simple present curves, present participle curving, simple past and past participle curved)

1. (transitive) To bend; to crook.

2. (transitive) To cause to swerve from a straight course.

3. (intransitive) To bend or turn gradually from a given direction.

4. (transitive) To grade on a curve (bell curve of a normal distribution).

5. (transitive) (slang) To reject, to turn down romantic advances.

Translations

Anagrams

• cruve

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin curvus (“bent, curved”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?r.v?/
• Hyphenation: cur?ve

Noun

curve f (plural curven or curves, diminutive curvetje n)

1. curve: curved line

   Synonym: kromme

Derived terms

Italian

Adjective

curve

1. feminine plural of curvo

Noun

curve f

1. plural of curva

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?kur.u?e/, [?k?ru??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?kur.ve/, [?kurv?]

Adjective

curve

1. vocative masculine singular of curvus

Portuguese

Verb

curve

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of curvar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of curvar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of curvar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of curvar

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?kurve]

Noun

curve f

1. plural of curv?

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ku?be/, [?ku?.??e]

Verb

curve

1. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of curvar.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of curvar.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of curvar.