curiosa

American  

[kyoor-ee-oh-suh] / ˌkyʊər iˈoʊ sə /

plural noun

1. books, pamphlets, etc., dealing with unusual subjects.

2. (in selling and collecting books) books, pamphlets, etc., containing pornographic literature or art; erotica.

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curiosa British  

/ ˌkjʊərɪˈəʊsə /

noun

1. curiosities

2. books on strange subjects, esp erotica

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Etymology

Origin of curiosa

1880–85; < New Latin: unusual things, special use of neuter plural of Latin cūriōsus careful, inquisitive. See curious

Example Sentences

As is the case with most pop culture curiosa, “Shōgun” only deserves partial credit or blame for escalating America’s fetishizing of Japanese style and customs.

From Salon • Mar. 8, 2024

The brothers were touring the Mütter Museum, a 19th-century repository of curiosa at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, garbed somewhat disappointingly in chinos and sweaters.

From New York Times • Oct. 15, 2010

Main content of Hunger and History is curiosa on man's long struggle, before the Industrial Revolution, to get enough to eat.

From Time Magazine Archive

Among other curiosa, the camp boasts a sullen horse that looks like Robert Ryan, and children who have "the faces of middle-aged manufacturers."

From Time Magazine Archive

The "curiosa felicitas" of Horace never carried him farther,—or perhaps so far.

From Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 100, September 27, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Various