course
noun
Course — the chosen direction a person's actions are set to follow
Definition
A mode of action; "if you persist in that course you will surely fail"; "once a nation is embarked on a course of action it becomes extremely difficult for any retraction to take place"
In depth
A course, in this sense, is a mode or pattern of action, the particular direction or path of conduct a person or group has chosen to pursue. The word implies continuity and consequence, suggesting that a single decision sets a trajectory likely to lead somewhere specific, whether toward success or ruin.
Origin
The word descends from Latin cursus, a running or course, from currere, to run — the same root behind 'current' and 'cursive.' That underlying sense of motion, of something running along a particular path, remains vivid in the word's modern use: a course of action is, etymologically, a path one is running along, for better or worse.
Usage examples
"If you persist in that course, the old man warned, you will surely fail."
"Once a nation has committed to that course of action, reversing it becomes nearly impossible."
"She charted a careful course through the negotiations, conceding nothing she could not afford to lose."
How to use it
Course works fluidly across literal and figurative uses, from the path of a river to the trajectory of a life, and writers regularly exploit this double meaning, letting a literal course of travel mirror a figurative course of action within the same passage.
Related concepts
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