Etymograph

English

courier

Courier comes from Old French coreor ‘runner’, from corir ‘to run’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-1‘to run’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱr̥s-é-ti1reconstructedzero-grade thematic present of *ḱers-
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*korzō1‘to run’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcurrere1
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentcorrere2‘to run [auxiliary essere or avere] (see above)’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentcorriere3
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600courrier3
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400corir3‘to run’
  9. Old Frenchc. 842–1400coreor3‘runner’agent noun of corir
  10. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500corour3
  11. Englishearliest quotation 1914courier3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Italian correre
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Italian corriere
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English courier
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1914, G. K. Chesterton, The Paradise of Thieves: “"A courier!" cried Muscari, laughing. "Is that the last…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-Wiktionary, Italian correre‘to run’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱr̥s-é-tiWiktionary, Italian correrereconstructedzero-grade thematic present of *ḱers-
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*korzōWiktionary, Italian correre‘to run’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcurrereWiktionary, Italian correre
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentcorrereWiktionary, Italian corriere‘to run [auxiliary essere or avere] (see above)’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentcorriereWiktionary, English courier
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600courrierWiktionary, English courier
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400corirWiktionary, English courier‘to run’
  9. Old Frenchc. 842–1400coreorWiktionary, English courier‘runner’agent noun of corir
  10. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500corourWiktionary, English courier
  11. Englishearliest quotation 1914courierWiktionary, English courier. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1914, G. K. Chesterton, The Paradise of Thieves: “"A courier!" cried Muscari, laughing. "Is that the last…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’

charge, carry, career, rush, cargo, hurry, carrier, carriage, occurrence, chariot, carousel, intercourse, caricature, corral, recourse, recursive, hurrah, cursory, carrack, 34 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥s-é-ti

discourse, concurrent, recurrent, incursion, concourse, 7 more

through Proto-Italic *korzō ‘to run’

current, course, occur, currency, curriculum, precursor, incur, cursor, concur, corsair, recursion, recur, hussar, courant, succour, 24 more

through Italian correre ‘to run [auxiliary essere or avere] (see above)’

corridor

Today it means

noun A person who delivers messages.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “courier”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Italian correre, Italian corriere. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- / courier

Shirt and support for this word