English
cursory
Cursory comes from Middle French cursoire ‘rapid’, from Latin cursorius ‘hasty, of a race or running’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-1‘to run’next step skipped: Latin cursor
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcursorius1‘hasty, of a race or running’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600cursoire1‘rapid’
- Englishearliest quotation 1816cursory1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English cursory
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1816, – 1817 April/May, The Modern Prometheus. […]: “But the cursory glance my father had taken of…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-Wiktionary, English cursory‘to run’next step skipped: Latin cursor
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcursoriusWiktionary, English cursory‘hasty, of a race or running’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600cursoireWiktionary, English cursory‘rapid’
- Englishearliest quotation 1816cursoryWiktionary, English cursory. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1816, – 1817 April/May, The Modern Prometheus. […]: “But the cursory glance my father had taken of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’
career, charge, course, current, carry, rush, carrier, cargo, currency, occur, carriage, curriculum, corridor, hurry, courier, chariot, carousel, caricature, corral, incur, concur, hurrah, precursor, corsair, recursive, courant, recur, hussar, succour, carrack, 44 more
Today it means
adj Hasty or superficial.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “cursory”. 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- / cursory