Etymograph

English

current

Current comes from Middle English curraunt, and goes back to Old French corant.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400corant1
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500curraunt1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1727current1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English current
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1727, John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins: “That there was current money in Abraham's time is…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400corantWiktionary, English current
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500currauntWiktionary, English current
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1727currentWiktionary, English current. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1727, John Arbuthnot, Tables of Ancient Coins: “That there was current money in Abraham's time is…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with current, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

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

  • charge ← chargen ← chargier ← carricāre ← carricō
  • career ← carrière ← carriera ← carreira ← carrāria
  • carry ← carien ← carier ← carrus ← *karros
  • rush ← ruschen ← hrysċan ← *hurskijan ← *hurskijaną
  • cargo ← cargar ← carricō ← carrus ← *karros
  • carrier ← cariere ← carien ← carier ← carrus
  • carriage ← cariage ← cariage ← carier ← carrus
  • hurry ← horien ← *hurzaną
  • intercourse ← entrecours ← intercursus
  • chariot ← char ← carrus ← *karros ← *karros
  • carousel ← carrousel ← carosello ← caruseḍḍu
  • occurrence ← occurrēns

116 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun The generally unidirectional movement of a gas or fluid.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “current”. 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 / Old French corant / current