cours

Cours is a French noun with several related meanings. It encompasses a lesson or series of lessons, the path followed by a flowing body of water, and the price or rate of something, among other uses. It is derived from Latin cursus and is used in many French expressions and technical terms. In English, the spelling cours is rare; the common cognate is course.

In education, un cours is a class or module within a program of study. People suivre un cours or prendre des cours to attend classes. A university may offer des cours magistraux (lectures) and des cours pratiques (practical classes). The plural des cours can refer to the set of classes a student takes in a term or to the range of courses offered by an institution. Online platforms also present des cours as distance learning.

In geography and physics, le cours d'une rivière denotes the river’s route from its source to its mouth; un cours d'eau refers to a flowing body of water. The phrase au cours de means during, and en cours signifies that something is in progress.

In economics and finance, le cours denotes price, rate, or value, especially for financial instruments. Le cours de l’action is the share price; le cours des devises is the exchange rate. Phrases like au cours de la journée indicate movements or changes in price over a day.

Other usages include expressions such as le cours du temps (the course of time) and, more generally, the idea of a sequence or progression in events or actions.