English
occurrence
Occurrence comes from Medieval Latin occurrēns ‘occurring’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-‘to run’next step skipped: Medieval Latin occurrō
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500occurrēnsas occurrentia‘occurring’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600occurrence
- Englishearliest quotation 1991same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-‘to run’next step skipped: Medieval Latin occurrō
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500occurrēnsas occurrentia‘occurring’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600occurrence
- Englishearliest quotation 1991same form
Earliest quotation: 1991, Robert Binnick, Time and the Verb: A Guide to Tense and Aspect: “The time interval of an occurrence—a temporal instantiation—is a…”
Formed from occur + -ence
Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’
…
Proto-Italic *korsō ‘to run’
Latin currō ‘run’
Latin occurrō ‘run to meet’
Middle French occurrer ‘to occur’
English occur
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’
course, charge, career, carry, rush, current, cargo, carrier, hurry, corridor, carriage, curriculum, courier, currency, chariot, carousel, precursor, caricature, corral, corsair, cursor, incur, concur, hurrah, recursive, courant, recursion, hussar, recur, succour, carrack, 43 more
Today it means
noun An actual instance when a situation occurs; an event or happening.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- / occurrence