*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of occur

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”).

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
verb

To happen or take place. · To present or offer itself. · To come or be presented to the mind; to suggest itself. · To be present or found.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*ḱers-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "frm",
        "3": "occurrer"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle French occurrer"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "occurrō",
        "4": "",
        "5": "run to meet, run against, befall, present itself"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin occurrō (“run to meet, run against, befall, present itself”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "occurrer",
      "occurrer#Middle_French"
    ],
    [
      "occurrō",
      "occurro#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "ob-",
      "ob-#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "currō",
      "curro#Latin"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To happen or take place.",
        "To present or offer itself.",
        "To come or be presented to the mind; to suggest itself.",
        "To be present or found."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "impersonal"
      ],
      "recordId": "be3e2228c9e5c7bc47852122b3d4c759042fed87eff6706ca1ff70db6d302e24",
      "rawRecordSha256": "7f346ae0bdfaf0a7f468c7901504ac7fdef840757d26f254c0398f7a87759edd",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 259218
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for occur →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-b2NjdXI