courre

Forms

courre (defective)^[1] Old French curre in the 11th century.^[2]

Etymology

It is the old infinitive of courir, inherited from Old French courre, inherited from Latin currō (“to run”).^[2][1][3][4] From the 13th century it was gradually replaced by the infinitive in -ir, first found about 1275 in the Roman de la Rose and remade after the verbs of that class.^[2]

Cognate with Italian correre, Old Occitan corre, Catalan córrer, Spanish correr and Portuguese correr.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

As curre it is found in the Vie de saint Alexis (mid-11th century) for moving along in bounds, that is, running.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Until the 17th century courre was used in the general sense of courir “to run”, as in Descartes' faire courre le bruit “to spread the rumour”.^[6][3][7] The transitive sense “to chase (an animal) at a run” is recorded about 1225 in Péan Gatineau's life of Saint Martin.^[2][4] When courir took over the ordinary uses, the old form survived in the language of venery, for hunting an animal with hounds, and above all in the phrase chasse à courre.^[4][2][8]

In riding, courre un cheval, to ride a horse at full gallop, is now obsolete.^[2][7]

Timeline

• mid-11th century – Curre “to run” appears in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[2][3]
• c. 1225 – Péan Gatineau uses it for chasing an animal at a run.^[2]
• 1260 – First record of the noun courre.^[6]
• c. 1275 – The infinitive courir appears in the Roman de la Rose and begins to replace courre.^[2]
• 13th century – Beaumanoir writes courre au devant of meeting a danger halfway.^[7]
• 1752 – The noun is used for country suited to hunting with hounds.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (hunting) To hunt or chase (an animal) with hounds: courre le cerf, courre le sanglier.^[2][6][8]
2. Chasse à courre: hunting on horseback with a pack of hounds, which run the quarry down.^[8][7][3]
3. Laisser courre (les chiens): to uncouple the hounds so that they run after the animal.^[2][7]
4. (obsolete) To run, in the senses of courir.^[6][7][3]
5. (riding, obsolete) Courre un cheval: to ride a horse at full gallop.^[2][7]

Related words

• courir
• Latin currō

Usage notes

Courre is used only in the infinitive.^[6][8] The Grand Robert gives a noun courre (1260) as a second headword, the infinitive used as a noun: in venery, the hunters and hounds of a hunt, and a stretch of country well suited to hunting with hounds;^[6][7] Littré defines it as the place where the hounds are posted.^[6][7] The compound laisser-courre is the place where the hounds are uncoupled and the horn call sounded then.^[7] With courrier and a few learned words, courre is one of the few words of the family of courir spelled with ⟨rr⟩.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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
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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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