Drag to pan · scroll to zoom
Drag to rotate
Tracing “”…
Where does the word "coarse" come from? It comes from Latin cursus, passing through Old French before entering English (1400s).
Read the full story
Where does the word "coarse" come from? It comes from Latin cursus, passing through Old French before entering English (1400s).
Coarse’s story begins in Latin: cursus meant “course.” The ordinary 'course' of things: plain, everyday. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old French as cours. 'of course' cloth meant ordinary cloth. It reached English by 1400s as coarse. Split from 'course' in spelling in the 1700s. Today, coarse means rough in texture; rude.
- Stage 1 · Latin · ancient cursus "course", the ordinary 'course' of things: plain, everyday.
- Stage 2 · Old French · medieval cours "course", 'of course' cloth meant ordinary cloth.
- Stage 3 · English · 1400s coarse "ordinary", split from 'course' in spelling in the 1700s.