coursecourse

Course comes from Middle English cours, from Old French cours, from Latin cursus ‘course of a race’, from currō ‘run’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’.

1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-¹‘to run’reconstructed
2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱr̥séti¹reconstructed
3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*korzō¹‘to run’reconstructed
4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcurrō¹‘run’
5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcursus¹‘course of a race’
6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400cours¹‘route’
7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500cours¹‘a course or path’
8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1595–1596course¹

1. ¹ Wiktionary, English course
2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame: “The course of true love never did run smooth.”.