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curso

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word curso

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*krs-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: [ˈkʊr.soː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈkur.so][1]

Forms

cursō (present infinitive cursāre, perfect active cursāvī, supine cursātum); first conjugation, impersonal in the passive[1] Some manuscripts have corsat.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin currō (“to run”) + -tō.[3][2] Priscian notes that such frequentatives are mostly formed from the supine, ⟨cursum⟩ giving ⟨cursō⟩.[2] De Vaan traces currō to Proto-Italic *korse/o- (“to run”) and Proto-Indo-European *krs-e/o- (“to run”), and notes that the compounds in ⟨-cursō⟩ keep the literal sense more than those in ⟨-currō⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it of running to and fro, ultro et citro;[5] Bentley restored it by conjecture in a line of Terence.[5]

Semantic evolution

It means to run, hurry or rush constantly about, to and fro;[3] Lewis & Short call it rare but classical.[5] Cicero has running hither and thither, huc illuc, and men who run about the gangways of a ship.[5] Tacitus uses it of rushing about the city,[5] and Valerius Flaccus of running into all the streets.[5] Wiktionary notes that it is impersonal in the passive.[1]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of running to and fro.[5][6]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of rushing about the city.[5][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To run, hurry or rush about, to and fro, hither and thither.[3][5][1]

Word family

  • circumcursō
  • concursō
  • cursatio
  • cursilitas
  • cursitō
  • discursō
  • excursō
  • intercursō
  • percursō
  • prōcursō
  • recursō

References

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

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Curso.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/curso. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·