correr

Forms

correr (first-person singular present corro, first-person singular preterite corrí, past participle corrido)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish correr, inherited from Latin currere (“to run”).^[2][3][4][1]

The same Latin verb is Portuguese correr, Catalan córrer, French courir, Italian correre and Romanian curge.^[5][6]

The Latin verb goes back to *korzō and Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”);^[1] Latin currus (“chariot”) and English horse are cognates.^[1] Corominas suggests that the transitive sense “to move something slightly”, as when drawing a curtain, may in fact be a homonym from corrigō (“to straighten”), with the same sound development as an archaic verb of that form meaning “to correct”.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the first record to the Glosas Silenses of the mid-10th century.^[2][3] In the Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy) it is used of blood that „corrió por el astil ayuso” “ran down the shaft” of a lance.^[7] In the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200) Abraham sees three men pass and „corrio en so encuentro” “ran to meet them”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Cuervo's senses include raiding enemy land and, transitively, driving someone out of a place;^[8] Corominas finds the latter in a Valladolid document of 1255 and in Lope de Vega, and says it is not a Portuguese loan, as had been claimed.^[2][8] It survives in the Canary Islands and the Americas, from Argentina to New Mexico.^[2][9] The sense “to shame” comes from the medieval punishment of making someone run through the town.^[5] Covarrubias (1611) has correrse “to be ashamed”, because the blood runs to the face, and correr la moneda “to be current”.^[10]

Autoridades (1729) defines it as moving with great speed, adds correr “to sail” and the figurative use for rivers and springs.^[11] The Academy's 1884 dictionary extends it to fluids, winds, rivers, a road and time.^[12] In parts of Latin America it means to fire someone from a job; in Mexico and Puerto Rico it can mean to run for office.^[9]

Timeline

• mid-10th century – the Glosas Silenses.^[2][3]
• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid uses it of flowing blood.^[7]
• 1202 – correr in the Cortes de Benavente, the first record without a later copy.^[7]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario writes of wild rams with great power to run.^[13]
• 1255 – a Valladolid document has the sense “to drive out”.^[2]
• 1513 – Nebrija gives Latin curro for “to go faster than at a walk”.^[14]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records correrse “to be ashamed”.^[10]
• 1884 – the Academy lists the senses for fluids, winds, rivers and time.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To run: to move so fast that both feet leave the ground between steps: Los niños corrían por la playa.^[4][1]
2. To go fast; to hurry: No corras, que hay tiempo.^[4][15]
3. Of a liquid or the air: to flow; of the wind, to blow; of a river, to follow its course.^[4][1]
4. To extend from one place to another: El sendero corre entre los olivos.^[4]
5. Of time: to pass, elapse.^[4][1]
6. Of news or a rumour: to spread, circulate.^[4][1]
7. (transitive) To move something slightly; to draw a curtain: Corrió las cortinas.^[1][2]
8. (transitive) To run a risk or a race: correr peligro.^[15][1]
9. (transitive, Latin America) To drive someone away; to fire from a job.^[1][9]
10. (reflexive) To move along, make room: Si te corres hacia allá, cabemos todos.^[1][2]

Word family

• corredor
• corredera
• corredizo
• correría
• corretear
• corrida
• corrido
• corriente
• corrimiento
• acorrer
• descorrer
• recorrer

Related words

• carro
• concurrir
• coso
• cursar
• curso
• cursor
• discurrir
• escurrir
• incurrir
• socorrer
• Latin currō
• Portuguese correr

Usage notes

Set phrases include correr la voz “to spread the word”, correr peligro “to be in danger” and a todo correr “at full speed”.^[1][15] The pronominal correrse also has a vulgar sense in Spain.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 208
3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. correr
4. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. correr
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954)
7. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. correr
8. ^ a b Cuervo, Rufino José (1886–1893), Diccionario de construcción y régimen de la lengua castellana, vols. I–II (A–D), París: A. Roger y F. Chernoviz, p. 2, 551
9. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. correr
10. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 522
11. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. s.v. correr
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 297
13. ^ Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. correr
14. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 319
15. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. correr