Etymology and origin of the Romanian word curs
curs1 flow, course
Etymology tree of curs1
From the same root · curs1
Forms
curs n (plural cursuri)[1]
Etymology
The word for the flow of water is inherited from Latin cursus (“running, course”), with some senses modelled on French cours.[2][3][4][1] The Latin noun was formed on currō (“to run”).[1][5] Tiktin counts the first sense as an inherited word and gives French for the senses of price and lecture.[6] Pușcariu lists it among the Latin words of Romanian.[7] Aromanian has cursu (“the sound of flowing water”).[4] The Romance cognates include Italian corso, Sardinian kussu, Friulian kors, Spanish coso and Portuguese cosso.[8]
The sources draw the line between the inherited word and the French loan in different places.[9][2][4] The DA gives the course of events, the value of a coin and the price of goods to a second, French-modelled word.[9] DEX keeps these senses here and gives the French loan only the lectures.[2] DELR treats all of them as one Latin word with senses after French.[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
Tiktin and DELR date the first record to Coresi's Tetraevanghel of 1561, in Luke 8:44.[6][4] MDA2's first record is in Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură (1581), and the oldest senses it gives are “running” and “a fast pace”.[3] The Anonymus Caransebesiensis glossary renders it with Latin cursus.[9]
Semantic evolution
The word names the movement of water and then the bed and the course of a river: Dosoftei writes of an island surrounded „de cursurile ocheanului”, “by the currents of the ocean”.[9] It is also used for a flow of tears, blood or pus, for the movement of the heavenly bodies, and, in old texts, for a chronicle.[3] Miron Costin compares the course of the world to a wheel: „Roata lumii… în cursul său se întoarce”, “the wheel of the world turns in its course”.[6]
From the flow of water the word passed to the passing of time (în cursul “during”) and the course of events.[2][3] A financial sense, the value of a coin, appears in 1804: „vei primi după cum va fi cursul” “you will receive according to the rate”.[9] DELR attributes these senses to French influence.[4]
Timeline
- 1561 – Coresi's Tetraevanghel, the first record.[6][4]
- 1581 – Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură.[3]
- 1804 – the value of money, „după cum va fi cursul”.[9]
- 1814 – „cursul monedei” “the rate of the coin”.[9]
- 1825 – the Lexicon of Buda gives the flow of water, running and cursu sórelui “the course of the sun”.[10]
Meanings
Noun
- The flow of a stream downhill; by extension its bed, its length or its direction.[2]
- (obsolete) Running, a fast pace.[2]
- (figurative) The passing of time, a duration: în cursul… “during”, în curs de… “within”.[2]
- The course of events, their development or direction: a da curs unei cereri “to act on a request”.[2]
- (finance) The price at which securities are traded at a given moment: curs de schimb valutar “exchange rate”; also the power of a coin to circulate.[2]
curs2 course of lectures
Etymology tree of curs2
From the same root · curs2
Forms
curs n (plural cursuri)[1]
Etymology
The word for a course of lectures is borrowed from French cours.[2][11][9] The French word continues Latin cursus, an action noun, and DELR notes that its senses of teaching and of the value of goods are recorded from the 14th century.[12][4] The neologism dictionaries name Latin and French together as its sources.[13][14] Gabinschi sees an international word of Latin origin, borrowed through French, German Kursus and Russian курс (kurs).[15]
Transylvanian Romanian had an earlier Latinism, cursuș “series of lessons”, recorded in 1820 and taken from New Latin with Hungarian pronunciation.[4]
Earliest recorded meaning
The DA's first example of the teaching sense is „Cursul public al școalelor naționale” “the public course of the national schools” in a document of 1825.[9]
Semantic evolution
The word first meant a lecture or a series of lectures at a university, and then the hours given to them;[6][9] Tiktin gives a ține un curs de chimie “to lecture on chemistry” and a urma un curs “to attend lectures”.[6][9] Constantin Negruzzi records how Kogălniceanu began to teach a course in history.[16] By extension it names a volume of printed lectures used as a textbook.[2] In the interwar school system cursul inferior and cursul superior were the lower and upper classes of a lycée.[3][9]
Timeline
- 1820 – the Transylvanian Latinism cursuș “series of lessons”.[4]
- 1825 – cursul public al școalelor naționale.[9]
- 1886 – Barcianu glosses curs de învățătură with German Lehrkurs.[17]
Meanings
Noun
Related words
Usage notes
The plural of both words is cursuri.[2] MDA2 lists two more words spelled curs, both from curge: an old noun in înainte-cursul “the forerunner”, first in the Psaltirea Scheiană (c. 1573–1578), and an old adjective meaning “flowed out”, from 1776.[3]
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 264
- ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 582
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. curge
- ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. curs
- ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 40
- ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2417
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. curs
- ^ Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 158
- ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria, p. s.v. curs
- ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. curs
- ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. curs
- ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 89
- ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 617
- ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 156
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Curs.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ro/curs. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.
Last edited on . ·