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excurro

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word excurro

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*kr̥s-e/o-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin curro
French courir
French courant
Latin concurro
Latin transcurro
Latin cursus
English corsair
French cours
Latin discurro
Latin discursus
English discourse
French discours
Latin cursor
Latin excurro
Latin excursio
Latin succurro
Latin recurro
Latin recursus
Latin praecurro
Latin accurro
Latin accursus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛkˈskʊr.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ekˈskur.ro][1]

Forms

excurrō (present infinitive excurrere, perfect active excurrī or excucurrī, supine excursum); third conjugation[1] The perfect is usually excucurrī (Plautus, Livy, Pliny the Younger), less often excurrī.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- (“out”) + currō (“to run”).[2][4][1] De Vaan traces currō to Proto-Italic *korse/o- and Proto-Indo-European *kr̥s-e/o- (“to run”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first example is Plautus' Bacchides, of someone who will learn that he has run out there in vain.[2]

Semantic evolution

It means to run or rush out, and in war to make a sally; of water to flow out, as Curtius' spring from the top of a mountain, and of branches to grow out.[2][3] It is also to make an excursion, and in speech to go off into a digression: Cicero wants speech not to wander or run on too far.[2] Of places and buildings it means to jut out or extend, as Vitruvius' projecting bases, and in grammar a word to end in a form.[2] It also means to run to an amount, and to go beyond a limit, as Seneca's things that seem to go beyond human nature.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of running out on an errand.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a digression.[2][6]
  • c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius of parts of a building that project.[2][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of people rushing into the street.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To run or rush out; to make a sally; of water, to flow out; of shoots, to grow out.[2][3][1]
  2. To make an excursion; in speaking, to go off into a digression.[2][3]
  3. To jut out, project, extend; in grammar, to end in a form.[2][1]
  4. To run to an amount or weight; to go beyond a limit.[2]

Word family

  • excursiō
  • excursor
  • excursus
  • superexcurrō
  • excursō

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 m n o 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. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Excurro.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/excurro. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·