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rursus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word rursus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus

Forms

rūrsus (not comparable)[1] The forms rūrsum, rūsum and russum are also found: rūrsum and rūsum are commonest in early comedy and in archaizing writers such as Apuleius, rūrsus in the classical period.[2][3]

Etymology

It is contracted from ⟨*revorsus⟩, ⟨*revorsum⟩ “turned back”, from re- “back” and ⟨vorsus⟩, the old form of versus “turned, towards”, from vertō “to turn”.[2][3][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has em, servā rūrsum, “there, block again!”, in a boxing scene, and em rūrsum tibi, “there's one back for you”.[2] Köbler cites it from Cicero.[4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is “backwards, back” (also rūrsum vorsum), then “back again”, restoring a former state, and “again, a second time”.[2][3][1] It means “in turn” of a returned action, “besides” in a list, and in contrasts “on the other hand” (Terence: quidquid dīcunt laudō; id rūrsum sī negant, laudō id quoque, “whatever they say I praise; if they deny it again, I praise that too”).[2][1]

Döderlein distinguishes iterum, “a second time”, rūrsus, “again, once more”, and dēnuō, “anew”.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: em, servā rūrsum.[2][4]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence: id rūrsum sī negant, laudō id quoque.[2][4]
  • 98–115 AD – Tacitus uses it for “besides” in a list of troops sent into battle.[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. backwards, back.[2][3][1]
  2. Back again (to a former state).[2]
  3. again, a second time.[2][3][1]
  4. In turn, in return.[2][1]
  5. Besides, in addition.[2]
  6. On the other hand, on the contrary.[2][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
Cite this entry

“Rursus.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/rursus. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

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