courier

American  

[kur-ee-er, koor-] / ˈkɜr i ər, ˈkʊər- /

noun

• couriers
  plural

1. a messenger, usually traveling in haste, bearing urgent news, important reports or packages, diplomatic messages, etc.

2. any means of carrying news, messages, etc., regularly.

3. the conveyance used by a courier, as an airplane or ship.

4. Chiefly British. a tour guide for a travel agency.

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courier British  

/ ˈkʊərɪə /

noun

1. a special messenger, esp one carrying diplomatic correspondence

2. a person who makes arrangements for or accompanies a group of travellers on a journey or tour

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verb

1. (tr) to send (a parcel, letter, etc) by courier

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• couriers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of courier

1350–1400; < Middle French cour ( r ) ier < Italian corriere, equivalent to corr ( ere ) to run (< Latin currere ) + -iere < Latin -ārius -ary; replacing Middle English corour < Anglo-French cor ( i ) our, Old French coreor < Late Latin curritor runner; see current, -tor

Explanation

A courier is a person you trust with delivering important messages or packages. Let your mail carrier deliver your credit card bill and the form letter from the “Save the Orchids” foundation, but trust a courier with your book contract or birth certificate. Couriers are in a hurry. Do they saunter up your driveway the way a mail carrier does? No! Couriers are clearly on important business; they’re jogging. The word comes from a Latin word, currere, meaning “to run.” Nowadays, you might see couriers on bicycles, however, weaving in and out of traffic to deliver your messages on time.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

courier couriers

The official travel site for the State Department cautions consumers about private courier companies and passport expeditors.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026

Wildberries and its rival Ozon are the most popular courier services in Russia.

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

Flights from New York City to Colorado Springs are about $250, and sending your dog with a courier would cost well over $1,000.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026

After the ancient Greeks won the historic Battle of Marathon, a courier ran 25 miles to Athens to deliver the good news and, according to legend, dropped dead.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

He began buttoning his shirt as the courier rode off—no hurry, why hurry?—and began slipping on the belt and saber.

From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara

To receive a license, operators would have to adhere to new safety, training and employment requirements, including hiring thousands of the city’s contract couriers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

When challenged whether he was coercively controlling couriers for his own ends, he said: "No, it's more of a bartering system. They want something and I want something. It goes hand in hand."

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

Additionally, the company said it now has more than 10 million global drivers and couriers, with active drivers up 21% from a year ago, despite higher gas prices.

From MarketWatch ● May 6, 2026

Acting as couriers, they take up parcels of host bacterial DNA and deliver them to neighbouring bacteria.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 17, 2026

In a way they posed a fresh danger as they passed workers and couriers from other underground groups coming and going on the narrow stairs.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom