Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1952 (SND Vol. III).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
CURATE, n. A parish priest of the Scottish Episcopal Church during the period 1662–88. Hist.Sc. a.1700 A. Shields Church-Communion (1706) Pref. 3:
Others could no[t] Join in Hearing of the Curates.Sc. 1829 Scott Tales of a Grandfather (1869) xlix.:
Numbers of half-educated youths were hastily sent for from the northern districts, in order that they might become curates, which was the term used in the Scottish Episcopal Church for a parish priest although commonly applied in England to signify a clergyman hired to discharge the duty of another.
