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occurro

Etymology and origin of the Latin word occurro

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (currō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɔkˈkʊr.roː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [okˈkur.ro][1]

Forms

occurrō (present infinitive occurrere, perfect active occurrī, supine occursum); third conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from ob- “towards, against” and currō “to run”.[2][1][3][4] The perfect is usually ⟨occurrī⟩, rarely ⟨occucurrī⟩, as in Plautus and Phaedrus, and Tubero has ⟨occecurrit⟩.[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of meeting by chance.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant to run to meet, as Caesar's going to meet someone coming, and in Cicero to help, and in Livy to arrive for an event.[2][7] In Cicero it meant to meet a situation, to fall in with someone's wishes, to counteract, and to counter an argument.[2] In Tacitus it meant to flow against, in Pliny the Elder to block the way, and in Caesar to confront an enemy.[2] From Plautus it meant to meet by chance, and in Virgil to meet the eye.[2] In Cicero it meant to present itself to the mind, to occur, and of things to crop up.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to go to meet, meet, come to, occur.[8] It was borrowed into Italian as occorrere and Spanish ocurrir, and English occur came in the 1520s, “to meet in argument”.[1][4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of meeting by chance.[2][6]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of going to meet.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of occurring to the mind.[2][6]
  • 1520s – English occur is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To run to meet; to help; to arrive.[2]
  2. To meet (a situation); to fall in with.[2]
  3. To run against; to face; to be contrary.[2]
  4. To confront; to block.[2]
  5. To counteract; to counter (an argument).[2]
  6. To meet by chance; to meet the eye.[2]
  7. To occur to the mind; to crop up.[2]

Word family

  • occursō
  • occursiō
  • occursor
  • occursōrius
  • occursus
  • occursāculum
  • occursātiō
  • occursātor
  • occursātrix
  • occursitō
  • currō
  • English occur
  • English occurrence

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 m n o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Occurro.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/occurro. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·