entry
cursory
/ˈkɝːsəri/Hasty and superficial rather than thorough
From Latin curs (running).
from French cursoire "rapid,"
+1 more sourcefrom Late Latin cursorius "hasty, of a race or running,"
+1 more sourcefrom French cursoire "rapid,"
+1 more sourcefrom Latin curs- , past-participle stem of currere "to run" (from PIE root *kers- "to run"). The literal sense of...
Word Ancestry
from French cursoire "rapid,"
+1 more sourcefrom Late Latin cursorius "hasty, of a race or running,"
+1 more sourcefrom French cursoire "rapid,"
+1 more sourcefrom Latin curs- , past-participle stem of currere "to run" (from PIE root *kers- "to run"). The literal sense of...
Picture an ancient Roman moving quickly through a task—or literally running across a field—and you have the image behind cursory. Latin’s curs- was the running stem of currere, and Late Latin cursorius meant “hasty” or “of a race”; Middle French then carried it over as cursoire, “rapid.” English adopted cursory around 1600, first preserving the literal idea of movement before settling on the familiar sense of a glance that races over the surface. Its relatives still leave tracks everywhere: a cursor runs across a screen, cursive letters seem to run together, and an excursion is a running out from one’s usual place. A cursory reading is therefore not merely incomplete—it is language’s old runner sprinting past the details.
The Story
Picture an ancient Roman moving quickly through a task—or literally running across a field—and you have the image behind cursory. Latin’s curs- was the running stem of currere, and Late Latin cursorius meant “hasty” or “of a race”; Middle French then carried it over as cursoire, “rapid.” English adopted cursory around 1600, first preserving the literal idea of movement before settling on the familiar sense of a glance that races over the surface. Its relatives still leave tracks everywhere: a cursor runs across a screen, cursive letters seem to run together, and an excursion is a running out from one’s usual place. A cursory reading is therefore not merely incomplete—it is language’s old runner sprinting past the details.
Kin & Kindred
From 'curs'·running; hasty
Derived Terms
English words from this root