'Course' is Latin for 'a running' — the path you run: meals, lessons, rivers, and events.
The route or direction followed; a series of lectures or lessons in a subject; a part of a meal served at one time; the way events develop over time.
From Old French 'cours,' from Latin 'cursus' (a running, a course, a journey, a career), from 'currere' (to run), past participle 'cursus.' The word names the path along which one runs — and by extension, any structured progression through space, time, or subject matter. A 'course' of study is the path you run through
A 'course' at dinner and a 'course' at university are the same metaphor: a structured sequence you move through. Medieval banquets had many courses — each was a 'running' of dishes brought to the table, one after another. A university course is a 'running' through a subject, lecture by lecture. In both