English
coarsely
Coarsely comes from Middle English coursly ‘naturally, logically’, from cours ‘the path of a celestial body’, and ultimately from Latin cursus.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcursus1
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400cours1‘route, path’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cours2‘the path of a celestial body’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500coursly3‘naturally, logically’
- Englishearliest quotation 1963coarsely3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Middle English cours
- 2 Wiktionary, Middle English coursly
- 3 Wiktionary, English coarsely
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1963, Margery Allingham, Foreword: “He stood transfixed before the unaccustomed view of London…”.
Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcursusWiktionary, Middle English cours
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400coursWiktionary, Middle English cours‘route, path’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500coursWiktionary, Middle English coursly‘the path of a celestial body’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500courslyWiktionary, English coarsely‘naturally, logically’
- Englishearliest quotation 1963coarselyWiktionary, English coarsely. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1963, Margery Allingham, Foreword: “He stood transfixed before the unaccustomed view of London…”
Linked words
through Latin cursus
cursive, corsair, cours, hussar, cursus, 1 more
through Old French cours ‘route, path’
through Middle English cours ‘the path of a celestial body’
Today it means
adv in a coarse manner
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “coarsely”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Middle English cours, Middle English coursly. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin cursus / coarsely