Dictionary

excursus en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ɛkˈskɜːsəs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ɛkˈskɝsəs/ (General-American)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin excursus (“excursion”). Doublet of excurse.

Meanings

1. A fuller treatment (in a separate section) of a particular part of the text of a book, especially a classic.
2. A narrative digression, especially to discuss a particular issue.
   • In his excursus on the Jewish people at the opening of the fifth book of his Histories [...], Tacitus was at a loss to uncover any deep cause for the war that broke out in 66. 2007, Glen Bowersock, “Provocateur”, in London Review of Books, 29:4, p. 16:
   • Here is what us scholars call an excursus. If you are an honest man the following page or two can be of no possible interest to you. 1979, Kyril Bonfiglioli, After You with the Pistol, Penguin, published 2001, page 204:
   • Part III (Chapters 12 to 16) includes an excursus which leads us to the use of Esperanto outside the community of its speakers. 2022, Sabine Fiedler, Cyril Robert Brosch, “On the structure of this book” (chapter 6), in Esperanto – Lingua Franca and Language Community, John Benjamins Publishing Company, →DOI, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OL, page 27:
   • The authors devote a fascinating excursus to the Western imagination’s preoccupation with serpents—from Eden to esoterica—and how this primed the ground for Kuṇḍalinī’s reception. 2025 December 10, Massimo Introvigne, ““The Serpent’s Tale”: Kuṇḍalinī Without a Leash”, in Bitter Winter:

Forms

Relateds

excursion