Etymologically
Log in

incurro

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word incurro

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*kers-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪŋˈkʊr.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [iŋˈkur.ro][1]

Forms

incurrō (present infinitive incurrere, perfect active incurrī or incucurrī, supine incursum); third conjugation[1] The perfect is incurrī or incucurrī.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from in- (“in, against”) and currō (“to run”).[2][4][1] De Vaan derives ⟨currō⟩ from Proto-Italic *korse- (“to run”) and Proto-Indo-European *kr̥s-e- (“to run”), from the root *kers-, cognate with Old Irish carr (“vehicle”) and perhaps Old English hors (“horse”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest examples in the OLD are from Cicero, as of a man who rushes into a race like a circus rider leaping between chariots.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to rush at or charge, above all in war, as Livy's Gauls charging the Romans, to make a raid into territory, of waves and winds to dash against, and to fall on one's sword.[2][3] It is also to run in or intrude, to run into an obstacle, as Cicero's man jostled in a crowd, and more mildly to meet, as Cicero's “my Curio, coming from Rome, ran into me”.[2]

Figuratively it is to run into trouble or blame, as Cicero's “I risk being charged with too much gratitude”; of things it is to occur or present itself, of events to fall on a date, and of measures to be contained in another.[2][3] Church Latin glosses it “come upon, run against, charge, incur, commit a fault”.[6] English incur comes from it through Anglo-French, from about 1400.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of rushing in, meeting and running into blame.[2][8]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of charging the enemy.[2][8]
  • c. 1400 – English incur.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To rush (at), charge, attack; to make an incursion.[2][3][1]
  2. To run in; to intrude.[2]
  3. To run into, strike against; to meet with.[2][1]
  4. To run into (danger, blame); to incur.[2][1][6]
  5. (of things) To occur, present itself;[2][1] (of events) to fall (on a date).[2][1]
  6. (of measures) To be contained (in).[2]

Word family

  • incursim
  • incursiō
  • incursus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ^ a b 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 Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Incurro.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/incurro. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·