Etymograph

English

hussar

Hussar comes from Hungarian huszár ‘cavalryman’, from Serbo-Croatian gusar ‘corsair’, 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*ḱr̥s-é-ti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*korzō1‘to run’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcurrō2‘run’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcursus2‘running’
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500cursārius2‘pirate’
  7. Byzantine Greekc. 600–1453χωσάριος2uncertain
  8. Serbo-Croatianmoderngusar2‘corsair’
  9. Hungarianmodernhuszár2‘cavalryman’
  10. Frenchc. 1600–presenthussard2
  11. Englishtodayhussar2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin curro
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English hussar

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-Wiktionary, Latin curro‘to run’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱr̥s-é-tiWiktionary, Latin curroreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*korzōWiktionary, Latin curro‘to run’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcurrōWiktionary, English hussar‘run’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcursusWiktionary, English hussar‘running’
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500cursāriusWiktionary, English hussar‘pirate’
  7. Byzantine Greekc. 600–1453χωσάριοςWiktionary, English hussaruncertain
  8. Serbo-CroatianmoderngusarWiktionary, English hussar‘corsair’
  9. HungarianmodernhuszárWiktionary, English hussar‘cavalryman’
  10. Frenchc. 1600–presenthussardWiktionary, English hussar
  11. EnglishtodayhussarWiktionary, English hussar

Linked words

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

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

through Proto-Italic *korzō ‘to run’

corridor, courier, concurrent, recurrent, incursion, 19 more

through Latin currō ‘run’

current, occur, currency, curriculum, discourse, precursor, incur, concur, cursor, concourse, recursion, recur, courant, succour, 22 more

through Latin cursus ‘running’

course, cursive, cour, corsair, coarsely, cursus, 1 more

through Medieval Latin cursārius ‘pirate’

courser

Today it means

noun A member of the national cavalry of Hungary, Croatia and Poland.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “hussar”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin curro. 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- / hussar

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