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excursus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word excursus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 50 BC, Caesar
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: [ɛkˈskʊr.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ekˈskur.sus][1]

Forms

excursus m (genitive excursūs); fourth declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin excurrō (“to run out”) + -tus, a fourth-declension noun of action.[2][3][1] excurrō is a compound of ex- and currō (“to run”),[4] which de Vaan traces to Proto-Italic *korse/o- and Proto-Indo-European *krs-e/o- (“to run”).[4] He compares Old Irish carr (“vehicle”) and Ancient Greek ἐπίκουρος (epíkouros, “helper”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it once each in Caesar and Virgil,[3] Caesar of soldiers' first charge being broken.[2] Köbler dates it from Virgil,[5] who has bees trying short excursions.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

It is a military raid, sortie or sally, and more generally a going out or an expedition.[2][6] It becomes more frequent from Columella and Pliny the Elder on.[3] Lewis & Short note that it is rare and not found in Cicero.[6] Seneca uses it of an outward movement of light, and Pliny the Younger of the outflow of water.[2][6] A declamation ascribed to Quintilian has the escapades of youth.[2] In Quintilian it is a digression in a speech,[2] and in Pliny the Elder a projecting part of the Pyrenees.[2] In medieval texts it is the development of a discussion, a sally-port, and a district dominated by a castle.[7] Church Latin has it as a running out, passage.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 50 BC – Caesar, of a charge of soldiers.[2][3][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil, of bees' short flights.[2][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of a projecting mountain.[2][5]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian, of a digression.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (military) A raid, sortie, sally.[2][6][1]
  2. A going out, an excursion, expedition;[2][6][1] an outflow; an escapade.[2]
  3. A digression.[2][7]
  4. A projection of land.[2]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A sally-port; a castle district.[7]

Word family

Usage notes

Excursus, -a, -um is also the participle of excurrō.[6]

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 p q Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c 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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Excursus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/excursus. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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