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concurso

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word concurso

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
170–c. 90 BC, Accius
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*ḱr̥s-e/o-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin curro
French courir
French courant
Latin excurro
Latin excursus
Latin excursio
Latin transcurro
Latin cursus
English corsair
French cours
Latin discurro
Latin discursus
English discourse
French discours
Latin cursor
Latin succurro
Latin concurro
Latin accurro
Latin accursus
Latin recurro
Latin recursus
Latin recurso
Latin praecurro
Latin curso
Latin concurso
Latin concursatio

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔŋˈkʊr.soː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [koŋˈkur.so][1]

Forms

concursō (present infinitive concursāre, perfect active concursāvī, supine concursātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + cursō (“to run about”), beside concurrō.[2][3] The frequentative ⟨cursō⟩ comes from currō (“to run”), which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *korse/o- (“to run”) and Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥s-e/o- (“to run”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Accius on,[3] who has whirlwinds rising from clashing waves.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to run together or clash, as Lucretius' seeds clashing and leaping apart, and to assemble.[2][5] Far more often it is to run to and fro, rush about: Lucilius has someone bawl from the rostra running about, Caesar's Titurius panics and runs about, and Cicero has young men with little beards rushing about.[2][5] With an object it is to visit in turn, to tour, as Lucilius' fields.[2] In military language Livy uses it of skirmishing.[5] Late glosses explain it as coming together into one place.[3]

Timeline

  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius of clashing waves.[2][3]
  • 2nd century BC – Lucilius of running about.[2][6]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of a panicking commander.[5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of skirmishing.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To run together, clash; to assemble.[2][5][1]
  2. To run to and fro, rush about, rove.[2][5][1]
  3. To visit in turn, travel through.[2]
  4. (military) To skirmish.[5]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ 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 c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Concurso.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/concurso. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·