What does accurse mean?
To accurse is to call down a curse upon someone or something — to solemnly invoke harm, misfortune, or divine punishment through an imprecation. The word entered Middle English from the Latin accurrāre, formed from ad- ('against') and currere ('to run'), reflecting an image of curses rushing upon their target. Once a live part of religious and legal language, accurse has become archaic: modern readers meet it mostly in historical chronicles, fantasy fiction, and the far more common adjectival form 'accursed,' which describes someone or something lying under a curse or simply detestable. Its synonyms include curse, damn, execrate, and anathematize, while its natural opposites are bless, consecrate, and hallow. Although rarely used today, accurse remains a vivid word for formal, ritualized condemnation.
verbTo accurse is to invoke a curse upon someone or something; to condemn as accursed. The word is archaic and survives chiefly in the adjective 'accursed.'
- To invoke a curse upon someone or something; to condemn to evil or destruction by imprecation.
"The medieval chronicler wrote that the king would accurse any noble who betrayed him."
"The old monk was said to have accursed the bandits who desecrated the abbey."
"Legends held that the witch had accursed the village, dooming its harvests for a generation."
Though it looks like a typo of 'a curse,' accurse is a real verb whose Latin root literally meant 'to run at' — the same root that gives us 'currency' and 'courier.'
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of accurse
Accurse descends from the Latin accurrāre, a compound of ad- ('toward, against') and currere ('to run'), originally conveying the sense of something running upon or rushing at its object, later specialized to the rushing-down of a curse. The word passed into Middle English via Old French forms of the Latin stem, appearing in medieval religious writing alongside its participle-derived adjective 'accursed.' It belongs to the large family of English words built on currere, including course, current, courier, and cursive.
Related word forms
How accurse is actually used
Archaic and literary in modern English; it appears mainly in historical texts and in its derivative adjective 'accursed.' In contemporary usage, speakers simply say 'curse' or 'put a curse on.'
Easily confused with accurse
'Accursed' is the adjectival form meaning under a curse or detestable, while 'accurse' is the verb that performs the cursing.
'Recur' means to happen again and shares only a superficial visual resemblance; 'accurse' means to call down a curse.
'A curse' is the noun for the imprecation itself, whereas 'accurse' is the act of uttering such an imprecation.