decurro Latin · revision 31111

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=ine-pro *kr̥s-e/o-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [deːˈkʊr.roː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [deˈkur.ro]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dēcurrō''' (present infinitive dēcurrere, perfect active dēcurrī, supine dēcursum); third conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ The perfect is ''dēcurrī'' or ''dēcucurrī'', the latter in Caesar, Livy and Tacitus.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[m|la|dē-|t=down]] and [[m|la|currō|t=to run]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces ⟨currō⟩ to [[itc-pro|*korse/o-|t=to run]] and [[ine-pro|*kr̥s-e/o-|t=to run]], cognate with [[grc|ἐπίκουρος|tr=epíkouros|t=helper]] and perhaps [[ang|hors|t=horse]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first use in the OLD is Plautus' ''Stichus'', of a life whose span has been run through (''dēcursō aetātis spatiō'').^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is to run or hurry down, as Caesar's enemies running down from the mountains, of things to rush down, and of liquids to flow down, as Lucretius' molten metals; a road or boundary can run downwards.^(OLD 2012) Of ships and travellers it is to come to land, to go downstream or down to the coast, and Cicero has it of “running down” to the country.^(OLD 2012) It is also to run a race, of a heavenly body to travel its course, and to make straight for a place, as Livy's tribunes.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ As a military term it is to perform exercises or manoeuvres, as Livy's soldiers drilled in a quiet camp.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) With an object it is to cover a distance, as Cicero's “seven hundred miles in two days”, and to run through a subject in speaking.^(OLD 2012) With ''ad'' it is to have recourse to something, as Cicero's opponent who “so eagerly had recourse to” hostile rights.^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of running through a lifetime.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius of flowing down.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of covering a distance and of having recourse.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar of running down from the mountains.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of military drill.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To run or hurry down, (of liquids) to flow down, (of land) to slope down.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # (of ships, travellers) To come to land; to go downstream.^(OLD 2012)

+ # To run (a race); (of heavenly bodies) to travel one's course; to make straight (for).^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(military)'' To [[m|en|manoeuvre]], [[m|en|drill]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(transitive)'' To cover (a distance); to run through (a life, a subject).^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # To have [[m|en|recourse]] (to).^(OLD 2012)^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dēcursiō]]

+ * [[decursorius]]

+ * [[dēcursus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[currō]]

+ * [[excurrō]]

+ * [[percurrō]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}