excursus

English · Français · Italiano · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

excursus

/ɪkˈskɜːsəs/ UK
/ɛk-/ UK
/ɛkˈskɜɹsəs/ US
/ɛk-/ US

Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)səs

Where it comes from

Learned borrowing from Latin excursus (“excursion; raid, sally, sortie”), a verbal noun from excurrō (“to run out; to sally forth”) + -sus (suffix forming verbal nouns), with the verb derived from ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’) + currō (“to run; to move, proceed, travel; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”)). Doublet of excurse.

noun excursuses · excursus

A fuller discussion (usually in a separate section at the end of a chapter or book) of a particular part of the text of a work, especially a bible commentary or classical Greek or Latin text.
Similar: excurse
An act of departing from the main narrative in speech or writing to discuss an incidental issue; a digression. Here is what us scholars call an excursus. If you are an honest man the following page or two can be of no possible interest to you.
Similar: excurse
A brief journey or trip, especially one out of the usual way; an excursion.
figuratively A brief instance of trying out a new activity, etc.

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"excursus." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/excursus. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

excursus. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/excursus

Chicago

"excursus." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/excursus.

BibTeX

@misc{excursus_2026,
  title = {excursus},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/excursus},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}