/kənˈkɜːr/
[verb] To agree with someone or to share the same opinion; also, to happen at the same time as something else.
To 'concur' literally means to run together — as if two minds are racing toward the same finish line.
The word 'concur' arrives in English from the Latin verb 'concurrere', a compound built from two parts: the prefix 'com-' (meaning 'together' or 'with') and 'currere' (meaning 'to run'). So at its most physical and literal, 'concurrere' described things running together — rivers merging, soldiers charging in a mass, or events colliding in time. This vivid sense of motion and convergence is the beating heart of the word, even if modern speakers rarely picture a footrace when they type 'I concur' in an email.
Latin 'currere' is one of the great root words of the English language. It gave rise to a remarkable family of words through different routes and centuries. Directly through Latin, it produced 'cursor' (a runner, later a pointer on a screen), 'current' (something flowing or running), and 'course' via the Old French 'cours'. The Latin 'currere' also led to 'corridor' through Italian 'corridore' (a running place, a passageway), and to 'courier' through Old French 'courrier'. Even 'occur' follows the same pattern — from Latin 'occurrere', meaning 'to run toward or against'.
The prefix 'com-' (which becomes 'con-' before certain consonants) is equally productive. It appears in dozens of English words — 'combine', 'connect', 'converge' — always carrying that sense of togetherness or joining. In 'concurrere', the combination created a word that meant things running together simultaneously, which is why 'concurrent' today describes events happening at the same time. The idea of running together translated naturally into the idea of minds moving in the same direction — and from there, agreement was only a short conceptual step.
English adopted 'concur' in the late 15th century, borrowing directly from Latin 'concurrere' rather than passing through French as many Latin-origin words did. Its earliest uses in English covered both meanings that survive today: events happening together at the same moment, and people agreeing in opinion or judgment. Legal and academic writing embraced both senses enthusiastically. A judge who writes a 'concurring opinion' agrees with the final verdict while perhaps offering different reasoning — a beautifully precise use of a word that has always been about minds converging on the same point.
What is quietly remarkable about 'concur' is how much physical life is hidden inside such a polite, formal-sounding word. When a roomful of diplomats nod and say they concur, they are — at the level of etymology — a crowd of runners sprinting toward the same finish line together. The word's cousin 'concourse', meaning a large open area where people gather or streams meet, keeps this physical image more visible: a concourse is literally a place where things run together. 'Concur' took the same root and made it entirely abstract, turning a rush of bodies into a meeting of minds.