English
course
Course comes from Middle English cours, from Old French cours, from Latin cursus ‘course of a race’, from currō ‘run’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-‘to run’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱr̥sétireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*korzō‘to run’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcurrō‘run’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcursus‘course of a race’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400cours‘route’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cours‘a course or path’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596course
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-‘to run’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱr̥sétireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*korzō‘to run’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcurrō‘run’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcursus‘course of a race’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400cours‘route’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cours‘a course or path’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596course
Earliest quotation: c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame: “The course of true love never did run smooth.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’
career, charge, carry, rush, carrier, cargo, hurry, carriage, occurrence, chariot, caricature, corral, carousel, hurrah, recursive, cursory, carrack, 38 more
through Proto-Italic *korzō ‘to run’
corridor, concurrent, recurrent, courier, incursion, recursion, 21 more
through Latin currō ‘run’
current, occur, currency, curriculum, precursor, incur, concur, cursor, recur, courant, succour, 25 more
through Latin cursus ‘course of a race’
cursive, corsair, hussar, cursus, 4 more
through Middle English cours ‘the path of a celestial body’
Today it means
noun A sequence of events.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- / course