cursus

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin cursus. Doublet of course and cour.

Noun

cursus (plural cursuses or (both, rare) cursus or cursūs or (nonstandard) cursi)

1. (rare) A course; a journey or progression.
   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 574:

     His cursus from Fréjus to Paris turned into a triumphal march, with whole towns and villages staging ceremonial entrées for him and cheering his passage.

2. (archaeology) A long ditch or trench of unknown function, constructed in Neolithic Britain and Ireland.
3. A racecourse.
4. An academic curriculum.
5. A form of daily prayer or service.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cursus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʏr.zʏs/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cur‧sus

Noun

cursus m (plural cursussen, diminutive cursusje n)

1. an educational course, on its own or as part of an academic or evening school curriculum
2. the documentation associated with a course, usually compiled by teachers themselves

Related terms

• cursist

French

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin cursus m. Doublet of cours m and course f.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kyʁ.sys/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

cursus m (invariable)

1. course (learning program)

Further reading

• “cursus”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkʊr.sʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkur.sus]

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱers-

Proto-Indo-European *-éti

Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥séti

Proto-Italic *korzō

Latin currō

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Italic *-tus

Latin -sus

Latin cursus

From currō + -sus (action noun).

Noun

cursus m (genitive cursūs); fourth declension

1. the act of running; race
2. Course, way, passage, journey, voyage, march
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.534:

     Hic cursus fuit

     This was [our] voyage
     (The first of many incomplete lines in the Aeneid.)

3. (figuratively) Course, progress, direction, development, succession, passage, tendency; career

Declension

Fourth-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	cursus	cursūs
genitive	cursūs	cursuum
dative	cursuī	cursibus
accusative	cursum	cursūs
ablative	cursū	cursibus
vocative	cursus	cursūs

Derived terms

• cursārius
• cursuālis

Related terms

• currāx
• curriculum
• currīlis
• currō
• currūlis
• currus
• cursātiō
• cursilitās
• cursim
• cursiō
• cursitātiō
• cursitō
• cursō
• cursor
• cursōrius
• cursūra

Descendants

• Emilian: cåurs
• Insular Romance:
  • Sardinian: cursu
• Balkano-Romance:
  • Romanian: curs
• Italo-Dalmatian:
  • Corsican: corsu, cursu
  • Italian: corso
    • → German: Korso
  • Sicilian: cursu
  • Venetan: córso
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Friulian: cors
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: cors, cós
  • Occitan: cors
  • Old French: cours, cors, curs (see there for further descendants)
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Asturian: cursu
  • Galician: coso
  • Portuguese: corso, cosso
  • Spanish: coso

Borrowings:

• → Catalan: curs
• → Crimean Tatar: kurs
• → English: cursus
• → French: cursus
• → Galician: curso
• → German: Kurs
  • → Serbo-Croatian: kȕrs / ку̏рс
• → Hungarian: kurzus
• → Italian: curso, cursus
• → Polish: kurs
• → Portuguese: curso
• → Russian: курс (kurs)
  • → Armenian: կուրս (kurs)
• → Spanish: curso
• → Swedish: kurs
  • → Finnish: kurssi

Etymology 2

Perfect passive participle of currō (“run”).

Participle

cursus (feminine cursa, neuter cursum, adverb cursim); first/second-declension participle

1. (of a race, journey) run, having been run
2. travelled through, traversed, ran, having been traversed

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	cursus	cursa	cursum		cursī	cursae	cursa
genitive	cursī	cursae	cursī		cursōrum	cursārum	cursōrum
dative	cursō	cursae	cursō		cursīs
accusative	cursum	cursam	cursum		cursōs	cursās	cursa
ablative	cursō	cursā	cursō		cursīs
vocative	curse	cursa	cursum		cursī	cursae	cursa

References

• “cursus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "cursus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “cursus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to run till one is out of breath: cursu exanimari (B.G. 2. 23. 1)
    
  • (ambiguous) to run its course in the sky: cursum conficere in caelo
    
  • (ambiguous) to finish one's career: vitae cursum or curriculum conficere
    
  • (ambiguous) to set one's course for a place: cursum dirigere aliquo
    
  • (ambiguous) to hold on one's course: cursum tenere (opp. commutare and deferri)
    
  • (ambiguous) to finish one's voyage: cursum conficere (Att. 5. 12. 1)
    
• “cursus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “cursus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin