accourir

Forms

accourir^[1] Old French acorre, also accourre, used until the 16th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French acorre, inherited from Latin accurrō (“to run to”).^{[4][2][5][6][1]} The Latin verb is made of ad- and currō (“to run”), and was used of people from Plautus and of things from Cicero.^[5][4] Its conjugation later changed after courir.^[4]

Cognate with Italian accorrere, Spanish acorrer and Old Occitan acorre.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Vie de saint Alexis (mid-11th century), of people running to a place: Toit i acorent li grant e li petit, “all run there, great and small”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The verb has kept the meaning of the Latin compound, “to come running, to hurry towards”.^[5] From the early 13th century it is also used with a thing as subject, of news or events arriving quickly;^[4] Rey dates this figurative use from Baïf in the 16th century.^[5] In compound tenses it takes either avoir or, more often, être.^[3][8]

Timeline

• c. 1050 – Acorent appears in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[4][3]
• 11th century – The Chanson de Roland has acurt.^[7]
• early 13th century – Péan Gatineau uses it with news as subject.^[4]
• 16th century – The infinitive acorre goes out of use.^[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To come running, to hurry towards a place or person: les voisins accoururent.^[4][8]
2. (of things) To arrive or spread quickly.^[4]

Related words

• courir
• Latin accurrō

Usage notes

In compound tenses both il a accouru and il est accouru are correct;^[3][8] être is the more common.^[3][8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
3. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 92a
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert