Etymologically
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cursarius

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kʊrˈsaː.ri.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [kurˈsaː.ri.us][1]

Forms

cursārius m (genitive cursāriī or cursārī); second declension[1] As an adjective: cursārius (feminine cursāria, neuter cursārium); first/second declension.[1] Also spelled corsārius, cursērius and corsērius.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin cursus + -ārius, formed in Medieval Latin;[1][4] the MLW compares cursōrius (“of running”).[4] cursus (“a running, course”) is the noun of currō (“to run”).[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The MLW's earliest record is a library catalogue of 1032/55, which lists an older cursarius among the church books, here a book of the divine office.[4]

Semantic evolution

The word took three separate meanings, all from the idea of running or of a course.[3][4] As the name of a book it meant a breviary, the book of the daily office (the cursus).[4][1] Used of a horse it was a swift courser,[3][4][6] and used of men at sea a pirate or corsair,[3][4] a sense the GMLC finds first, perhaps, in the Usatges of Barcelona in the first half of the 12th century.[7] The MLW also has an adjective, swift or express, and a fast kind of ship,[4] and Du Cange a scribe who wrote in shorthand.[6]

The pirate sense lived on in Italian corsaro, which gave French corsaire and English corsair;[1][5] through Hungarian huszár, from a Serbian variant of the Italian word, it is also the source of hussar.[5][1] The horse sense passed into Old French corsier, the source of the English word.[1][5]

Timeline

  • 1032/55 – A library catalogue lists an old cursarius, a breviary.[4]
  • first half of the 12th century – The Usatges of Barcelona name cursarii beside sailors, perhaps the oldest record of the pirate sense.[7]
  • 1199 – An imperial act refuses harbour to corsairs from Pisa and Genoa.[4]
  • 1219 – Oliver of Paderborn uses the adjective of camels carrying messages.[4][2]
  • c. 1300 – English borrows courser “swift horse” from Old French.[5]
  • 1358 – A Hungarian charter forbids harbouring cursarii and evildoers in the ports.[8]
  • 1540s – English takes corsair from French.[5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (Medieval Latin) Swift, running fast; express.[4][2]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Usual, regular.[2]

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) A pirate, a corsair.[3][4][8][7]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A swift horse, a courser.[3][4][6]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A liturgical book, a breviary.[3][4][1]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A fast ship.[4]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A scribe writing in shorthand.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  7. ^ a b c Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis Cataloniae (1960–; online ed. 2025), Barcelona: CSIC / Institució Milà i Fontanals, gmlc.imf.csic.es
  8. ^ a b Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE