Curricula Vitae

Curriculum vitae (CV) is Latin for "course of life".

A curriculum vitae is a summary of academic and professional history and achievements.

There is dispute over whether a CV should start with the oldest or newest entries. In german-speaking countries a picture is a mandatory adjunct to the CV.

In résumés used in applying for non-academic jobs in the United States, the newest entries come first. For academic jobs in the United States, the oldest entries often come first.

The plural of curriculum vitae is curricula vitarum. Ignorant people, even among the educated, often write curriculum vita under the very confused impression that the genitive singular noun vitae is plural.

The reason for this misinterpretation is that the word is of the first declension, which means that the noun follow this grammar:

• Nominative singular - vita
• Genitive singular - vitae
• Nominative plural - vitae
• Genitive plural - vitarum