course definition

English course definition

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kôs, IPA^(key): /kɔːs/
• (General American) enPR: kôrs, IPA^(key): /kɔːɹs/, /kɔɹs/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) enPR: kōrs, IPA^(key): /ko(ː)ɹs/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /koəs/
• (Tasmania) IPA^(key): /kɜːs/
• Homophone: coarse; curse (Tasmania)
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)s, -ɜː(ɹ)s (Tasmania)

Etymology 1

From Middle English cours, from Old French cours, from Latin cursus (“course of a race”), from currō (“run”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”). Doublet of cursus and cour.

Noun

course (plural courses)

1. A sequence of events.

   The normal course of events seems to be just one damned thing after another.

   1. A normal or customary sequence.
      • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene i]:

        The course of true love never did run smooth.

      • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

        Day and night, / Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost, / Shall hold their course.

   2. A programme, a chosen manner of proceeding.
   3. Any ordered process or sequence of steps.
   4. A learning programme, whether a single class or (UK) a major area of study.

      I need to take a French course.

      • 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond

        During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant […]

      • 1992 August 21, Edwina Currie, Diary:

        Her course will be ‘Communication Studies with Theatre Studies’: God, how tedious, how pointless.

      • 2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

        Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.

   5. (especially in medicine) A treatment plan.
      • 1932, Agatha Christie, The Thirteen Problems

        Miss Clark, alarmed at her increasing stoutness, was doing a course of what is popularly known as banting.

   6. A stage of a meal.

      We offer seafood as the first course.

   7. The succession of one to another in office or duty; order; turn.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 2 Chronicles 8:14:

        He appointed […] the courses of the priests.

2. A path that something or someone moves along.

   His illness ran its course.

   1. The itinerary of a race.

      The cross-country course passes the canal.

   2. A racecourse.
   3. The path taken by a flow of water; a watercourse.
   4. (sports) The trajectory of a ball, frisbee etc.
   5. (golf) A golf course.
   6. (nautical) The direction of movement of a vessel at any given moment.

      The ship changed its course 15 degrees towards south.

   7. (navigation) The intended passage of voyage, such as a boat, ship, airplane, spaceship, etc.

      A course was plotted to traverse the ocean.

   8. (India, historical) The drive usually frequented by Europeans at an Indian station.
      • 1853, William Delafield Arnold, Oakfield; or, Fellowship in the East, ii, page 124:

        It was curious to Oakfield to be back on the Ferozepore course, after a six months' interval, which seemed like years. How much had happened in these six months!

3. (nautical) The lowest square sail in a fully rigged mast, often named according to the mast.

   Main course and mainsail are the same thing in a sailing ship.

4. (in the plural, courses, obsolete, euphemistic) Menses.
5. A row or file of objects.
   1. (masonry) A row of bricks or blocks.

      On a building that size, two crews could only lay two courses in a day.

   2. (roofing) A row of material that forms the roofing, waterproofing or flashing system.
   3. (textiles) In weft knitting, a single row of loops connecting the loops of the preceding and following rows.
6. (music) One or more strings on some musical instruments (such as the guitar, lute or vihuela): if multiple, then closely spaced, tuned in unison or octaves and intended to played together.

Hyponyms

• bird course
• crash course
• due course
• massive open online course (MOOC)

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Gulf Arabic: كورس‎ (kōrs)

Related terms

Translations

Verb

course (third-person singular simple present courses, present participle coursing, simple past and past participle coursed)

1. To run or flow (especially of liquids and more particularly blood).

   The oil coursed through the engine.

   Blood pumped around the human body courses throughout all its veins and arteries.

   • 2013, Martina Hyde, "Is the pope Catholic?", The Guardian, 20 September 2013[1]

     He is a South American, so perhaps revolutionary spirit courses through Francis's veins. But what, pray, does the Catholic church want with doubt?

2. (transitive) To run through or over.
3. (transitive) To pursue by tracking or estimating the course taken by one's prey; to follow or chase after.
   • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene vi]:

     We coursed him at the heels.

4. (transitive) To cause to chase after or pursue game.

   to course greyhounds after deer

Translations

Etymology 2

Clipping of of course

Adverb

course (not comparable)

1. (colloquial) Alternative form of of course
   • 1922, A. M. Chisholm, A Thousand a Plate:

     "Course it's mighty hard to tell till we've put out a few traps," said the former, "but it looks to me like we've struck it lucky."

Anagrams

• Couser, Crouse, Crusoe, cerous, coures, crouse, source

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Chinese course definition

Etymology

From English course. (learning programme)

Pronunciation

Noun

course

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) course; learning programme (Classifier: 個／个)

   報course / 报course [Cantonese]  ―  bou³ ko¹ si² [Jyutping]  ―  to apply for a course

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French course definition

Etymology

From Old French cours, from Latin cursus (“course of a race”), from currō (“run”), with influence of Italian corsa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kuʁs/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

course f (plural courses)

1. run, running
2. race
3. errand

Usage notes

• course is a false friend, it does not mean "course". To translate the English word course to French, use cours.

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Romanian: cursă

Further reading

• “course”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• coeurs, cœurs
• coures
• écrous
• source

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Middle English course definition

Noun

course

1. Alternative form of cours

Adjective

course

1. Alternative form of cours

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Norman course definition

Etymology

From Old French cours, from Latin cursus (“course of a race”), from currō (“run”).

Noun

course f (plural courses)

1. (Jersey) course