Etymograph

English

occur

Occur comes from Middle French occurrer, from Latin occurrō ‘to run to meet, befall’, from ob- + currō ‘to run’, 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*korsō2‘to run’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcurrō2‘run’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoccurrō2‘run to meet’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600occurrer2‘to occur’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1959occur2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin curro
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English occur
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1959, Georgette Heyer: “And no use for anyone to tell Charles that…”.

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*korsōWiktionary, English occur‘to run’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcurrōWiktionary, English occur‘run’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoccurrōWiktionary, English occur‘run to meet’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600occurrerWiktionary, English occur‘to occur’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1959occurWiktionary, English occur. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1959, Georgette Heyer: “And no use for anyone to tell Charles that…”

The story

Originally "meet (in argument)", borrowed from Middle French occurrer, from Latin occurrō (‘run to meet, run against, befall, present itself’) from prefix ob- (‘against’) + verb currō (‘run, hurry, move’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

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

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

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

105 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

verb To happen or take place.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “occur”; 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- / occur