cursorius

Forms

cursōrius (feminine cursōria, neuter cursōrium); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin cursor + -ōrius, an adjective from the noun for a runner.^[1][2] The TLL allows a derivation directly from the verb currō (“to run”) as well,^[2] and Georges and Köbler refer it to that verb.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated use is in the Edict of Diocletian (301 AD), where Gallicae cursoriae are a kind of shoe, “Gaulish running shoes”.^[3][5][4]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to Late Latin.^[6][7] The land surveyors used it of boundary stones and of the path along a boundary, which Conte takes as the road of the public post;^[3][5] as a noun, cursoria (understood navis) was a light, fast boat in Sidonius Apollinaris, and cursorium meant the public post.^[6][3]

In Medieval Latin a mercator cursorius was an itinerant merchant,^[8][9] and in the universities a lectio cursoria was a quick, extraordinary lecture, a course given by bachelors in the faculty of theology.^[8][10] British sources also use it of swift animals, of a charger and of a turning millstone.^[11] English took cursory from French around 1600, ultimately from this Late Latin adjective.^[7]

Timeline

• 301 AD – The Edict of Diocletian lists Gallicae cursoriae, a kind of shoe.^[3][5][4]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius Apollinaris calls a light boat a cursoria.^[6][3][4]
• 1067 – A charter confirmed by King Philip I mentions a mercator cursorius, an itinerant merchant.^[9]
• c. 1600 – English borrows cursory from French, which goes back to this word.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or for running.^[6][3]
2. (land surveying) Of boundary stones and boundary paths;^[3][5] Conte takes it as serving the public post.^[3][5]
3. (Medieval Latin) Itinerant: mercātor cursōrius, a travelling merchant.^[8][9]
4. (Medieval Latin) Of a university lecture: quick, extraordinary, cursory.^[8][10]
5. (Medieval Latin) Swift-running, of animals; turning, of a millstone.^[11]

Noun

1. cursōria f: a light, fast boat; also, in the Edict of Diocletian, a running shoe.^[6][3][5]
2. cursōrium n: the public post; a path running along a boundary;^[6][3][8] (Medieval Latin) a pasture for sheep.^[6][3][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) cursōrius m: a courser, a war horse.^[11]

Related words

• cursor
• English cursory

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e f Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
10. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
11. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press