cursor

American  

[kur-ser] / ˈkɜr sər /

noun

1. Digital Technology. a movable, sometimes blinking, marker that indicates the position on a display screen where the next character entered from the keyboard will appear, or where user action is possible.

2. a sliding object, as the lined glass on a slide rule, that can be set at any point on a scale.

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cursor British  

/ ˈkɜːsə /

noun

1. the sliding part of a measuring instrument, esp a transparent sliding square on a slide rule

2. 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

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Etymology

Origin of cursor

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English in the earlier sense “runner, courier,” from Latin: literally, “runner, runner in a race, messenger, footman,” equivalent to cur(rere) “to run” + -sor, variant of -tor; cursor def. 2 was first recorded in 1590–1600 and cursor def. 1 in 1965–70; course, -tor

Example Sentences

When Noland awoke from the surgery which installed the device, he said he was initially able to control a cursor on a screen by thinking about wiggling his fingers.

From BBC

A paralyzed Arizona man became the first human to receive the implant in January and has since moved a cursor, browsed the internet and played video games with this thoughts.

From Los Angeles Times

Though he needed to learn a new method to click on something, he can still skate the cursor across the screen.

From New York Times

He appeared in the video beside Neuralink’s brain interface software lead Bliss Chapman, and answered questions about how the technology worked, saying that it required him to “imagine the cursor moving”.

From BBC

By the early 2000s monkeys were being trained to move a cursor around a computer screen using just their thoughts.

From BBC

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