Excursing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Engaging in a journey or expedition away from home for leisure or exploration
2. Taking a trip to gain experience or enjoyment in a different environment
3. Participating in a brief venture or excursion that leads one outside their usual surroundings

Etymology: The verb "excursing" is the present participle of "excurse", which is built from Latin "excurrere", "to run out" or "to sally forth". Its parts are "ex-", meaning "out" or "away", and "currere", "to run", the same root that gives English "current" and "courier". The Latin verb's perfect passive stem, "excurs-", gave the verb its form, while the noun "excursus" was also borrowed directly from Latin. In Latin, "excursus" was a verbal noun meaning a sally, a raid or an outing, so the original sense was about running out, not about a leisurely trip. That makes the modern sense of short pleasure outings a softening of something more martial. English "excurse" has the same origin as the noun "excursion", but the two were shaped from the same Latin root, and "excurse" is probably derived partly from the Latin stem and partly from the noun. The word is therefore a close relative of "excursion" rather than a simple descendant of it.

Synonyms: cursing, swearing, blaspheming, damning, profaning

Antonyms: blessing, praising, commendation, honoring, exalting