Etymologically
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excursio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛkˈskʊr.si.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ekˈskur.si.o][1]

Forms

excursiō f (genitive excursiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin excurrō (“to run out”) + -tiō.[2][1][3] excurrō is a compound of ex- and currō (“to run”),[4] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *korse/o- (“to run”) and Proto-Indo-European *krs-e/o- (“to run”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[6] who in the De inventione speaks of men making a province unsafe with raids and robberies.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a sortie or sally, a raid;[2] the TLL notes that it is found in Cicero, Caesar, the Bellum writings, Nepos and above all Livy, and only once or twice in later authors.[3] In rhetoric Cicero uses it of the orator's stepping forward, which should be moderate and rare,[2] and Quintilian of not overdoing gestures and steps.[7] It is also a journey or expedition, as when Pliny the Younger asks his correspondent whether frequent trips to look after his estate take him away.[2] Quintilian uses it of a digression in speech.[2] English excursion (1570s) first meant a deviation in argument and a military sally.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of raids and of an orator's stepping forward.[2][6]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it most often, of sallies.[3][6]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian, of a digression.[2][6]
  • 1570s – Borrowed into English as excursion.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A sortie, sally, raid.[2][7][1]
  2. (rhetoric) A stepping forward as a gesture.[2][7]
  3. A journey, expedition.[2][4]
  4. (rhetoric) A digression.[2]

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 k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  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
  7. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press