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An executor executes, a parser parses, readers read, etc.

Does a cursor curse? If not, what does it do?

Corey
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5 Answers5

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Cursors offer no oaths of their own, minced or otherwise.

They simply run, as @ULTRACOMFY notes.

Etymonline offers the following etymology:

cursor (n.) c. 1300 (as a surname) "a running messenger," from Latin cursor "runner," also "errand-boy," from curs-, past-participle stem of currere "to run" (from PIE root *kers- "to run"). From 1590s as "part of aslide rule or other instrument that slides backward and forward upon another part." The computer screen sense is a 1967 extension of this.

Cursors are commonly said to move, though if you don't mind looking past the screen to the hand that conducts the scene, you can also say that one can position the cursor. For a less pedestrian term, consider the more alliterative cruising cursor.

Lawrence
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  • @DecapitatedSoul Thanks - fixed. I was chasing a trail through some migrated IBM notes. I might have made a mistake when copying the link. – Lawrence Nov 04 '20 at 09:20
  • I think saying cursors move is like saying propellers turn. Yes, they do, but their purpose is not to move but to propel just as a cursor’s purpose is not to move but to point or indicate. – Jim Nov 04 '20 at 17:10
  • @Jim True, but the OP was looking for a verb that is etymologically related to the noun. Pointing is a function imposed on the cursor, not a function related to the etymology of the word. – Lawrence Nov 05 '20 at 03:12
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"Cursor" comes from the latin cursor and means "runner". The more English term would be "Pointer", and a pointer points.

  • That's fairly true but don't forget that 'cursor' predates electronic computing by a long way. For example slide rules have cursors and slide rule cursors aren't pointers. I always thought that the Mac mouse cursor was named after the slide rule cursor. – BoldBen Nov 04 '20 at 10:27
  • +1 I think pointing or indicating is more fundamental to what a cursor does than moving. Yes, a cursor moves but only because the position it’s pointing to or indicating must keep changing. – Jim Nov 04 '20 at 16:21
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Though a cursor does not curse, a curser certainly does :)

A cursor is a symbol that functions as an indicator or identifying point on a computer screen. The cursor icon marks the point on the screen at which the user may interact with the computer screen...

Curser means someone who curses. It may refer to someone who is invoking a supernatural being in order to punish another person, but most often a curser is someone who uses offensive words in a fit of anger. Curser is also a common misspelling of the word cursor. Grammarist: Cursor vs curser

chasly - supports Monica
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TwoBob
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  • Welcome TwoBob. It's best not to just give a link, as a link can become invalid over time. The convention is to give an excerpt, say what the source is and then the link. I've taken the liberty of editing your answer to demonstrate. – chasly - supports Monica Nov 04 '20 at 10:08
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“Cursor” is not built on any English verb. Latin had an agent noun suffix -tor/-sor. Some nouns with this suffix that were taken into English currently exist alongside verbs with a similar form, but not all. Compare:

  • sponsor
  • monitor
  • factor
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  • sector
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  • victor

As Lawrence and ULTRACOMFY said, cursor was built on a Latin verb meaning “run”.

There are English verbs that came through various paths from this verb, such as recur, occur, recurse, course.

herisson
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Actually a cursor (of the type the poster had in mind) does nothing — it is only done to. The person controlling it is the one doing the doing.

Compare with a spoon. A spoon doesn’t spoon, but is used to spoon (not in the silvery moon sense).

David
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