correre

Forms

correre (first-person singular present córro, first-person singular past historic córsi, past participle córso, auxiliary (action towards a goal) èssere or (action considered in itself, or transitive) avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin currō (“to run”), a verb of Indo-European origin.^[2][3][4][1] The verb survives across the Romance languages: French courir (rarely courre), Occitan corre, Catalan córrer, Spanish correr, Portuguese correr, Sardinian cùrrere and Romanian curge, which means “to flow” and took its ending from merge (“to go”).^[3][5][6] The Latin present participle, currentem in the accusative, lives on in corrente.^[2]

The Latin verb goes back through Proto-Italic *korzō to Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥s-é-ti, a present formed on the root Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”).^[1][7] De Vaan and Nocentini find the same root in Latin carrus (“wagon”), a loan from Gaulish that gave carro, and in Old High German hros (“horse”), whose descendants are German Ross and English horse.^[7][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Ritmo di Sant'Alessio, a poem from the Marche of the second half of the 12th century, and Nocentini and GRADIT date the verb to the same period.^[8][3][4] The oldest dated senses in DELI are “to be in progress”, in a will of 1263, and “to move fast on one's own legs or with a means of transport”, in Bono Giamboni (before 1292).^[2] Giamboni writes of the ostrich that it is not so heavy that a good horse can easily catch it, “di tal guisa corre” (so fast does it run).^[9]

Semantic evolution

Giamboni already used the verb for acting or thinking in haste and for the passing of time, and Brunetto Latini (before 1294) for the quick movement of parts of the body and of lifeless things.^[2] Rustico di Filippo (before 1300) has it for news that spreads, and Dino Compagni (1310–1312) for riding in a joust or tournament.^[2] The TLIO records it in war for charging the enemy on foot or on horseback, and for the flowing of water and the blowing of wind.^[8] Dante made it transitive, “to travel across” (1321), and in Bandello (1554) wages and interest corrono, that is, accrue.^[2]

The present participle gave the adjective corrente (before 1250, Cielo d'Alcamo) and the noun corrente “current”, which was used of electricity from 1816 and of a faction inside a party from 1957.^[2] The phrase essere al corrente “to be informed” (1807, Vincenzo Monti) was condemned by 19th-century purists as a copy of French être au courant.^[2] Other derivatives are corridore (late 12th century), first an adjective “swift”, and corridoio, a passage that is so called because one can run along it.^[2][3] Recent senses include running in an election, recorded in 1985.^[10] Tuscan proverbs quoted by Tommaseo contrast running and arriving: Altro è correre, altro è arrivare.^[11]

Timeline

• Second half of the 12th century – The Ritmo di Sant'Alessio is the first text with the verb.^[8][3][4]
• Late 12th century – The Ritmo laurenziano has the derivative corridore “swift”.^[2]
• 1263 – A will uses the verb for something in progress.^[2]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for running and for the passing of time.^[2]
• 1310–1312 – Dino Compagni uses it for taking part in a joust.^[2]
• 1321 – Dante uses it transitively, “to travel across”.^[2]
• 1554 – Matteo Bandello uses it for wages and interest that accrue.^[2]
• 1807 – Vincenzo Monti writes al corrente “informed”.^[2]
• 1985 – La Repubblica uses it for standing in an election.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To run, to move quickly on foot so that at moments neither foot touches the ground: Ogni mattina corro mezz'ora lungo il fiume.^{[4][12][13][1]}
2. (intransitive) To go fast in a vehicle; of a vehicle, to travel at speed: Non correre, la strada è bagnata!^[4][12][14]
3. (intransitive) To hurry, rush somewhere: Appena ho saputo, sono corso all'ospedale.^[4][12][13]
4. (intransitive, sports) To take part in a race: Quest'anno corre per una squadra francese.^[4][15][13]
5. (intransitive) Of liquids, to flow; of time, to pass: Il torrente corre veloce tra le rocce.^[15][14][2]
6. (intransitive) Of news and rumours, to spread, circulate.^[2][14]
7. (transitive) To run (a race or a risk): correre il rischio.^[1][4]
8. (transitive) To travel through, traverse: correre il mondo.^[4][1][2]

Word family

• corrente
• corridoio
• corridore
• corriera
• corriere
• corrimano
• corsa
• corsia
• corsivo
• corsiero
• rincorrere
• scorrazzare

Related words

• concorrere
• corso
• decorrere
• discorrere
• incorrere
• occorrere
• ricorrere
• scorrere
• soccorrere
• trascorrere
• carro
• Latin currō

Usage notes

The verb takes essere when a goal is stated or implied (sono corso a casa) and avere when the running itself is meant or in the sense of racing (ho corso per un'ora).^[14][13][12] Common phrases are correre ai ripari “to take urgent measures”, correre dietro a qualcuno “to chase someone” and lasciar correre “to let something go”.^[4][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1122
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 820
10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET, p. 1, 1752
12. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
15. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse