Excursion

WORD OF THE DAY

excursion / noun / ik-SKER-zhun

Definition

1a: a going out or forth 

1b: expedition

c: a usually brief pleasure trip

d: a trip at special reduced rates

2a: deviation from a direct, definite, or proper course

2b: digression

3a: a movement outward and back or from a mean position or axis; also : the distance traversed 

3b: amplitude

Examples

Lewis Carroll's Through The Looking Glass is an excursion into a fantastical world where nothing is what it seems to be, and everything appears to be what it is not.

"Every morning for 10 years, Joey Gamez has hopped on a boat to take customers of his Golden State Sportfishing business on a San Francisco Bay excursion, a hobby-turned-business for the 42-year-old." 

— Alejandra Reyes-Velarde, The Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2019

Did You Know?

In Latin, the prefix ex- means "out of" and the verb currere means "to run." 

When the two are put together, they form the verb excurrere, literally "to run out" or "to extend." 

Excurrere gave rise not only to excursion but also to excurrent (an adjective for things having channels or currents that run outward) and excursus (meaning "an appendix or digression that contains further exposition of some point or topic"). 

Other words deriving from currere include corridor, curriculum, and among newer words, parkour.