curr-, cur-, cor-, cour-

1. Money which is used as a medium of exchange, particularly paper money: The official currency of eight countries is the peso.
2. The state of being up-to-date: With her emphasis on currency, Sally always has the newest cell phone available.
3. General acceptance or use: Todd's radical political ideas have not been given much currency by university officials.
4. Etymology: from Latin currens, "condition of flowing"; from currere, "to run".

The sense of "flowing" or "course" was extended in 1699 by John Locke (1632-1704), an English philosopher who maintained that all knowledge is derived from sense-experiences; then to "circulation of money" with the meaning of in circulation as "a medium of exchange" and also followed by that of "money in circulation" in 1729, in Benjamin Franklln's Essays.

1. The continuous forward movement of a body of water; such as, a river: Fred realized that he couldn't paddle against the current in the stream for much longer; so, he tried to move over to the side.
2. A flow of electricity: The lights flickered a lot last night because of the unsteady current during the storm.
3. A common movement or tendency in society: A current of popular belief often decides a presidential election.

Descriptive of the present time or being in progress now: Tim's current resume is up-to-date, so now he is looking for a job.

Referring to the present time or whatever is going on at the moment: Bob and Paula currently work for an international business which happens to require a lot of traveling.

A lightly made, open sided, two-wheeled carriage that is pulled by a pair of horses: Whenever Bruce could watch his country cousins race in their curricles, he was always glad that he could be there to see them.

Pertaining to courses and activities offered by educational institutions: Tim was informed that there would be curricular changes in the fall semester at his university.

1. The courses offered by educational schools or universities: Every three years, Dan's college curriculum is reevaluated and updated in order to prepare students for their vocational needs in technological careers.
2. The related courses particular to a field of study: It will be necessary for Betty to take and to pass seven of the eight courses in the anthropology curriculum. © ALL rights are reserved.
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1. A summary of one's education, professional history, and job qualifications; usually, for a prospective employer: Dr. Jones recommended that his students have their curricula vitae prepared well in advance of applying for their desired occupation.

Curriculum vitae is also called vita or vitae; a brief biographical résumé of a person's career and training, which is usually prepared by someone who is applying for a job or a professional career.

2. Etymology: from Latin, curriculum vitae, "the race of life"; from curriculum, "course" + vitae; from vita, "life".

Translation: "The wagon drags the ox."

It is a mistake to deal with minor considerations before getting down to the central issue confronting anyone; as we are warned: "Don't put the cart before the horse (ox)." When planning an activity, we must keep first things first.

Descriptive of letters in handwriting in which they are written and joined together: Max discovered that some German cursive writing can be very difficult to read.

Relating to letters that are written and joined together: With the advent of text messaging, writing cursively is becoming a lost art.

A moveable indicator on a computer screen that shows where a letter can be typed, corrected, or removed: Mona used the cursor while she was compiling her book on her computer.

A reference to legs and feet that are adapted for running and, sometimes, digging: Just about all animals have cursorial appendages.

Relating to an action done hastily and carelessly: Ms. Young, the teacher, cursorily ran through the pages of the novel, then she threw the book down in disgust.

Aidan's sister cursorily did her homework to such an extent that she failed the biology test the next day.

A reference to an action done hastily and with little attention given to its details: That Rene's son had performed his chores in a cursory manner was obvious as shown by the clothes and toys that were still on the floor in his bedroom. © ALL rights are reserved.
© ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.