English 'curriculum' is Latin for 'a running course' or 'racecourse,' from 'currere' (to run), from PIE *ḱers- (to run) — education conceived as a track to be run, first applied to academic programs at the University of Glasgow in 1633.
The subjects and content comprising a course of study at a school or university.
From Latin 'curriculum' (a running, a course run, a race, a racecourse, a chariot), the neuter of 'curriculus,' a diminutive of 'currus' (chariot, car, carriage), from 'currere' (to run, to move swiftly). The PIE root is *kers- (to run) — shared by Latin 'cursus' (a running, a course), 'cursor' (a runner), 'current,' and 'courier.' The metaphor of education as a course to be run is ancient: Roman education was itself conceived in spatial terms, with students advancing through a fixed sequence of disciplines — grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy — as a runner advances along a track. The
English 'horse' and Latin 'currere' (to run) both derive from the same PIE root *ḱers- (to run). The horse was literally 'the runner.' This means that 'curriculum' — a course to be run — and 'horse' — the animal that runs — are etymological cousins, connected by the ancient Indo-European word for running.