current
pronunciation
How to pronounce current in British English:
UK [ˈkʌrənt]
How to pronounce current in American English:
US [ˈkɜːrənt]
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- Noun:
- a flow of electricity through a conductor
- a steady flow (usually from natural causes)
- dominant course (suggestive of running water) of successive events or ideas
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- Adjective:
- occurring in or belonging to the present time
Word Origin
- current
- current: [13] Current literally means ‘running’. It comes from Old French corant, the present participle of courre ‘run’, which in turn was descended from Latin currere ‘run’. This has been traced back to a prehistoric root denoting ‘swift movement’, which probably also produced car, career, carry, and charge. The Latin verb itself has a wide range of descendants in English, from the obvious courier [16] to the more heavily disguised corridor [16] (originally literally ‘a run’), occur and succour.For the English offspring of its past participle cursus see COURSE. The sense ‘of the present time’ (first recorded in the 17th century) comes from the notion of ‘running in time’ or ‘being in progress’.=> car, carry, charge, corridor, courier, course, occur, succour
- current (adj.)
- c. 1300, "running, flowing," from Old French corant "running, lively, eager, swift," present participle of corre "to run," from Latin currere "to run, move quickly" (of persons or things), from PIE *kers- "to run" (cognates: Greek -khouros "running," Lithuanian karsiu "go quickly," Old Norse horskr "swift," Old Irish and Middle Welsh carr "cart, wagon," Breton karr "chariot," Welsh carrog "torrent"). Meaning "prevalent, generally accepted" is from 1560s.
- current (n.)
- late 14c., from Middle French corant (Modern French courant), from Old French corant (see current (adj.)). Applied 1747 to the flow of electrical force.
Example
- 1. Current iron ore prices are attractive .
- 2. The current electoral law is universally deplored .
- 3. This induces current in the motor inside the heart .
- 4. The current measures go some way to doing so .
- 5. Under the current system , voters directly elect candidates in 47 prefectures , and other candidates are selected through proportional representation .