English
intercourse
Intercourse comes from Late Latin intercursus ‘mingled with, having mingled with’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-‘to run’next step skipped: Late Latin intercurrō
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEintercursus‘mingled with, having mingled with’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400entrecours
- Englishearliest quotation 1604intercourse
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-‘to run’next step skipped: Late Latin intercurrō
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEintercursus‘mingled with, having mingled with’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400entrecours
- Englishearliest quotation 1604intercourse
Earliest quotation: 1604, George Chapman: “Yet do I vnderſtand your darkeſt language, / Your…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’
charge, current, career, carry, rush, occur, currency, cargo, carrier, curriculum, hurry, carriage, corridor, chariot, precursor, discourse, courier, caricature, incur, carousel, corral, concur, hurrah, cursor, recursive, recourse, corsair, recur, concourse, hussar, carrack, courant, succour, 41 more
Today it means
noun Communication, conversation.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- / intercourse