cursor

[kur-ser]

See more synonyms for cursor on Thesaurus.com

noun

Digital Technology. a movable, sometimes blinking, symbol that indicates the position on a display screen where the next character entered from the keyboard will appear, or where user action is needed.
a sliding object, as the lined glass on a slide rule, that can be set at any point on a scale.

Origin of cursor

1250–1300; Middle English: “runner, courier”; ( 1590–1600 in sense “sliding object” < Latin), equivalent to cur(rere) “to run” + -sor, for -tor -tor; cf. course

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for cursor

missile, projectile, dart, cursor, shaft, indicator, pointer, bolt

Examples from the Web for cursor

Contemporary Examples of cursor

Dora is seen getting dressed as a mermaid by a cursor being manned by some omniscient game player.
Sleazy Billionaire’s Double Life Featured Beach Parties With Stephen Hawking
M.L. Nestel
January 8, 2015
Hover over an area with your cursor to see the distance between where you are and the nearest clinic.
Interactive: The Geography of Abortion Access
Michael Keller, Allison Yarrow
January 22, 2013
Do a video search and you instantly get a giant page of thumbnails—roll the cursor over one and it starts playing right there.
How Google Trained Your Brain
Douglas Rushkoff
June 3, 2009

Historical Examples of cursor

Hover the cursor over the marked text, and an explanation should appear.
The Shadow of Ashlydyat
Mrs. Henry Wood
Hover the cursor over the word and the original text will appear.
Abigail Adams and Her Times
Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards
Scroll the cursor over the word and the original text will appear.
Cressy and Poictiers
John G. (John George) Edgar
Hover the cursor over the word and the nature of the correction should appear.
Witch Stories
E. Lynn (Elizabeth Lynn) Linton
Hover the cursor over the text, and the nature of the correction should appear.
Life of Robert Burns
Thomas Carlyle

British Dictionary definitions for cursor

cursor

noun

the sliding part of a measuring instrument, esp a transparent sliding square on a slide rule
any of various means, typically a flashing bar or underline, of identifying a particular position on a computer screen, such as the insertion point for text

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cursor

computer sense is 1967 extension of name for the sliding part of a slide rule or other instrument (1590s), earlier "a running messenger" (c.1300), from Latin cursor "runner," also "errand-boy," from curs-, past participle stem of currere "to run" (see current (adj.)).