Etymologically
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accurro

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [akˈkʊr.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [akˈkur.ro][1]

Forms

accurrō (present infinitive accurrere, perfect active accurrī or accucurrī, supine accursum); third conjugation[1] It is also spelled adcurrō, a spelling Lucilius discusses.[2] The perfect is accurrī or accucurrī.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- + currō (“to run”).[2][1] De Vaan traces currō to Proto-Italic *korse/o- (“to run”) and Proto-Indo-European *kr̥s-e/o- (“to run”).[4] Cognate with Old Irish carr (“vehicle”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[4] who has “I run up to find out what he wants”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to run or hurry up, especially to help, as Terence's “I can't do it alone: run here!” and Cicero's “be ready to run up if I call”.[2][3] The Bellum Africum uses it of troops charging and falling back with the cavalry, and Statius of rain rushing up with clouds.[2] Church Latin glosses it “run to meet”.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of running up to learn something.[2][4][6]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence of running to help.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of running up when called.[3][6]
  • c. 45–96 AD – Statius of rushing rain.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To run up, hurry to, especially to help.[2][3][5][1]
  2. To rush to the attack, charge.[2][1]
  3. Of things, to rush up.[2]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de