Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “courier” come from?

Courier comes from Middle English currour, from Old French coreor, a noun formed with the Old French agent suffix -eor from Latin currere meaning "to run," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ḱers-.

courier (English): a person who looks after and guides tourists; a...

Definitions

  1. a person who looks after and guides tourists; a...

Ancestry of “courier”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishcorour—
2Old Frenchcoreorrunner
3Old French-eorAlternative form of -or
4Latin-ator-ator, -er; second-person singular future passive...
5Latin-tor-er
6Proto-Italic-tōr—
7Proto-Indo-European-tōrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
8Proto-Indo-European-tor-s—

Words derived from “courier”

  • kuriero
  • κούριερ
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tor-s →