Word.ws English Dictionary

excurse

excurse verb: to make a journey, especially an excursion; to travel.

Verb

excurse (third-person singular simple present excurses, present participle excursing, simple past and past participle excursed)

  1. (archaic, intransitive, rare) To make a journey, especially an excursion; to travel.
    • In which of the nine hundred ſtreets—I mean lanes—of this capital of the world—for who can diſpute a Pariſian’s word, who never has excurſed beyond the gates?1769, [John Hall-Stevenson], “The Tilt of Arms. Paris and London.”, in Yorick’s Sentimental Journey, Continued. […], volume III, London: […] S. Bladon, […], →OCLC, pages 65–66
    • Let’s all help our bodies get over what we did to them this winter by taking an excursion to Grace Spa. Or pick the spa of your choice. But it was Grace Spa that I excursed to and that I'm writing about firsthand.2015 April 8, Dina Mishev, “Facial refreshes skin after winter outdoors”, in Jackson Hole News&Guide, Jackson, Wyo.: Teton Media Works, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 Oct 2025...
    Synonyms:
    sally
  2. (archaic, intransitive) To digress; to turn aside from the main subject of attention.
    • But how I excurſe!—Yet thou uſedſt to ſay, thou likedſt my excurſions. If thou doſt, thou’lt have enow of them: For I never had a ſubject I ſo much adored; […]1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XIII. From Mr. Lovelace; In Continuation.”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume III, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by John...
  3. (obsolete, transitive) To travel or pass through.

Noun

excurse (plural excurses)

  1. Synonym of excursus.
    • By the labors of the Bridgewater writers, the argument has been cleared of many extraneous and unnecessary excurses.1859, James B[arr] Walker, “Introductory. The Present Position and Bearings of the Argument Stated.”, in Sacred Philosophy. God Revealed in the Process of Creation, and by the Manifestation of Jesus...
    • Prof. Kuhn shows further that the original version seems to have been better preserved in the Arabic text, at least so far as the end of the tale is concerned. In two Excurses, pp. 40–45 and 45–50, he examines the Hebrew version of [Abraham ben Samuel ha-Levi] Ibn Hisdai (c. 1250) and the Greek; […]1894, M[oses] Gaster, “E[rnst] Kuhn. Barlaam und Joasaph. Eine bibliographisch-literargeschichtliche studie. […] (A bibliographical and literary study about the Legend of Barlaam and Joasaph.)”, in...
    Synonyms:
    excursus
  2. (obsolete) An act of moving or rushing forward or out; an incursion by troops.
    • Ad hæc fratetnitati^([sic]) tuæ præcipiendo modo quo te in Cantuarienſem Eccleſiam recipias, & paucis quidem clericis retêtis admodū neceſſariis, ad minus quam poteris per terram illam diſcurras.1563 March 30 (Gregorian calendar), Alexander Pope [i.e., Pope Alexander III], “Alexander Pope, to Thomas [Becket] Archbishop of Canterbury”, in John Foxe, Actes and Monuments of These Latter and...
    • But foꝛſomuch as now not caring foꝛ thy oth, noꝛ regarding the ſafetie of thy hoſtages, thou haſt ſo fondlie ⁊ lewdlie paſſed thy bounds: I am to require thée, that thou doo retire and withdꝛaw theſe excurſes of ſtrangers; […]1587 January, Giraldus Cambrensis [i.e., Gerald of Wales], translated by Iohn Hooker, “[The Irish Historie […]] The Besieging and Taking of the Citie of Dublin”, in Raphael Holinshed, The Second...

Examples of excurse in a sentence

  • Actually, the passage occurs in an excurse in the edictal commentary, the exact meaning of which is unknown; […]1959, A[braham] Arthur Schiller, “Senatus Consulta in the Principate”, in Tulane Law Review, volume 33, New Orleans, La.: Tulane Law Review...
  • Sometimes, there are overlong excurses in drawing out parallels with other Victorians.2013 November 29, Geoffrey Rowell, “John Henry [Newman]’s relations”, in Church Times, London, →ISSN, →OCLC, Christmas book supplement...

Synonyms of excurse

Forms of excurse

Verb
third-person singular presentexcurses
present participleexcursing
past participleexcursed
pastexcursed
Noun
pluralexcurses
alternative form (obsolete)excourse

Origin of excurse

Probably partly from Classical Latin excurs-, past participial stem of excurrō, and partly from the noun.

From Classical Latin excursus. Doublet of excursus. In the “excursus” sense, some later examples in plural may show errors for excursuses.

Words that rhyme with excurse

36 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about excurse

What does excurse mean?
Excurse means to make a journey, especially an excursion; to travel.
How do you use excurse in a sentence?
Actually, the passage occurs in an excurse in the edictal commentary, the exact meaning of which is unknown; […]
What part of speech is excurse?
Excurse can be a verb or a noun.
What is the past tense of excurse?
The past tense of excurse is excursed.

Words near excurse in the dictionary

  1. exculpatory
  2. excur
  3. excurrent
  4. excurrently
  5. excurs
  6. excurse
  7. excursed
  8. excurses
  9. excursing
  10. excursion
  11. excursion fare

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: excurse (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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