excursion definition vocabulary

• More from M-W
• To save this word, you'll need to log in. Log In

Definition of excursion

Did you know.

In Latin, the prefix ex- means "out of" and the verb currere means "to run." When the two are put together, they form the verb excurrere , literally "to run out" or "to extend." Excurrere gave rise not only to excursion but also to excurrent (an adjective for things having channels or currents that run outward) and excursus (meaning "an appendix or digression that contains further exposition of some point or topic"). Other words deriving from currere include corridor , curriculum , and among newer words, parkour .

Examples of excursion in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'excursion.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Latin excursion-, excursio , from excurrere

circa 1587, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Dictionary Entries Near excursion

excursional

Cite this Entry

“Excursion.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/excursion. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of excursion.

from Latin excursio, excursion- "a going out," from excurrere "to run out, make an excursion, extend," from ex- "out, forth" and currere "to run" — related to current

Medical Definition

Medical definition of excursion, more from merriam-webster on excursion.

Nglish: Translation of excursion for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of excursion for Arabic Speakers

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the day.

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Your vs. you're: how to use them correctly, every letter is silent, sometimes: a-z list of examples, more commonly mispronounced words, how to use em dashes (—), en dashes (–) , and hyphens (-), absent letters that are heard anyway, popular in wordplay, the words of the week - apr. 19, 10 words from taylor swift songs (merriam's version), a great big list of bread words, 10 scrabble words without any vowels, 12 more bird names that sound like insults (and sometimes are), games & quizzes.

• Dictionaries home
• American English
• Collocations
• German-English
• Grammar home
• Practical English Usage
• Learn & Practise Grammar (Beta)
• Word Lists home
• My Word Lists
• Recent additions
• Resources home
• Text Checker

Definition of excursion noun from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

• trip an act of traveling from one place to another, and usually back again: a business trip a five-minute trip by taxi
• journey an act of traveling from one place to another, especially when they are far apart: a long and difficult journey across the mountains
• A trip usually involves you going to a place and back again; a journey is usually one-way. A trip is often shorter than a journey , although it does not have to be: a trip to New York a round-the-world trip. It is often short in time, even if it is long in distance. Journey is more often used when the traveling takes a long time and is difficult.
• tour a journey made for pleasure during which several different places are visited: a tour of California
• commute the regular trip that a person makes when they travel to work and back home again: a two-hour commute into downtown Washington
• expedition an organized journey with a particular purpose, especially to find out about a place that is not well known: the first expedition to the South Pole
• excursion a short trip made for pleasure, especially one that has been organized for a group of people: We went on an all-day excursion to the island.
• outing a short trip made for pleasure or education, usually with a group of people and lasting no more than a day: My project team organized an afternoon outing to celebrate.
• an overseas trip/journey/tour/expedition
• a bus/train trip/journey/tour
• to go on a(n) trip/journey/tour/expedition/excursion/outing
• to set out/off on a(n) trip/journey/tour/expedition/excursion
• to take a(n) trip/journey/expedition/excursion

Take your English to the next level

The Oxford Learner’s Thesaurus explains the difference between groups of similar words. Try it for free as part of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app

Definition of 'excursion'

Video: pronunciation of excursion

excursion in American English

Excursion in british english, examples of 'excursion' in a sentence excursion, related word partners excursion, trends of excursion.

View usage over: Since Exist Last 10 years Last 50 years Last 100 years Last 300 years

In other languages excursion

• American English : excursion / ɪkˈskɜrʒən /
• Brazilian Portuguese : excursão
• Chinese : 短途旅行
• European Spanish : excursión
• French : excursion
• German : Ausflug
• Italian : escursione
• Japanese : 小旅行
• Korean : 짧은 여행
• European Portuguese : excursão
• Spanish : excursión
• Thai : การเที่ยวพักผ่อนหย่อนใจ, การเที่ยวช่วงสั้นๆ

Browse alphabetically excursion

• exculpatory
• excursion ticket
• excursion train
• excursionise
• All ENGLISH words that begin with 'E'

Related terms of excursion

• boat excursion
• shore excursion
• fishing excursion
• View more related words

Quick word challenge

Quiz Review

Score: 0 / 5

Wordle Helper

Scrabble Tools

• 1.1 Etymology
• 1.2 Pronunciation
• 1.3.1 Synonyms
• 1.3.2 Derived terms
• 1.3.3 Related terms
• 1.3.4 Translations
• 1.4.1 Translations
• 1.5 Further reading
• 2.1 Etymology
• 2.2 Pronunciation
• 2.4 Further reading

English [ edit ]

Etymology [ edit ].

Borrowed from Latin excursio ( “ a running out, an inroad, invasion, a setting out, beginning of a speech ” ) , from excurrere ( “ to run out ” ) , from ex ( “ out ” ) + currere ( “ to run ” ) .

Pronunciation [ edit ]

• IPA ( key ) : /ɛks.kɜː(ɹ).ʒən/ , /ɛks.kɜː(ɹ).ʃən/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)ʃən

Noun [ edit ]

excursion ( plural excursions )

• 1922 , Ben Travers , chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest ‎ [1] : Mother [ … ] considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, from which every Kensingtonian held aloof, except on the conventional tip-and-run excursions in pursuit of shopping, tea and theatres.
• A wandering from the main subject: a digression .
• ( aviation ) An occurrence where an aircraft runs off the end or side of a runway or taxiway , usually during takeoff , landing , or taxi .
• ( phonetics ) A deviation in pitch , for example in the syllables of enthusiastic speech .

Synonyms [ edit ]

• ( recreational trip ) : journey , trip
• ( wandering from the main subject ) : digression , excursus

Derived terms [ edit ]

• alarums and excursions
• excursion fare
• excursion rate
• excursion steamer
• power excursion

Related terms [ edit ]

Translations [ edit ], verb [ edit ].

excursion ( third-person singular simple present excursions , present participle excursioning , simple past and past participle excursioned )

• 1825 , Charles Lamb , Letter to Mr. Wordsworth , 6 April, 1825, in The Works of Charles Lamb , Volume I, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1851, p. 249, [2] Yesterday I excursioned twenty miles; to-day I write a few letters.
• 1880 , Mark Twain , chapter 49, in A Tramp Abroad ‎ [3] : After breakfast, that next morning in Chamonix, we went out in the yard and watched the gangs of excursioning tourists arriving and departing with their mules and guides and porters [ … ]
• 1942 , Emily Carr , “ Ways of Getting Round ”, in The Book of Small : Victoria cows preferred to walk on the plank sidewalks in winter rather than dirty their hooves in the mud by the roadside. They liked to tune their chews to the tap, tap, tap of their feet on the planks. Ladies challenged the right of way by opening and shutting their umbrellas in the cows' faces and shooing, but the cows only chewed harder and stood still. It was the woman-lady, not the lady-cow who had to take to the mud and get scratched by the wild rose bushes that grew between sidewalk and fence while she excursioned round the cow.

Further reading [ edit ]

• “ excursion ”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary , Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam , 1913 , →OCLC .
• “ excursion ”, in The Century Dictionary   [ … ] , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co. , 1911 , →OCLC .
• “ excursion ”, in OneLook Dictionary Search .

French [ edit ]

Borrowed from Latin excursiōnem .

• IPA ( key ) : /ɛk.skyʁ.sjɔ̃/

excursion   f ( plural excursions )

• wander (talk off topic)
• “ excursion ”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [ Digitized Treasury of the French Language ] , 2012 .

• English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
• English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱers-
• English terms borrowed from Latin
• English terms derived from Latin
• English 3-syllable words
• English terms with IPA pronunciation
• English terms with audio links
• Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)ʃən
• Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)ʃən/3 syllables
• English lemmas
• English nouns
• English countable nouns
• English terms with usage examples
• English terms with quotations
• en:Aviation
• en:Phonetics
• English verbs
• English intransitive verbs
• French terms borrowed from Latin
• French terms derived from Latin
• French 3-syllable words
• French terms with IPA pronunciation
• French terms with audio links
• French lemmas
• French nouns
• French countable nouns
• French feminine nouns
• Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations
• Japanese terms with redundant script codes
• Quotation templates to be cleaned

Navigation menu

• TheFreeDictionary
• Word / Article
• Starts with
• Free toolbar & extensions
• Word of the Day
• Free content

ex·cur·sion

Ex•cur•sion.

A journey is the process of travelling from one place to another by land, air, or sea.

A trip is the process of travelling from one place to another, staying there, usually for a short time, and coming back again.

A voyage is a long journey from one place to another in a ship or spacecraft.

An excursion is a short trip made either as a tourist or in order to do a particular thing.

You make or go on a journey.

You take or go on a trip.

You make a voyage.

You go on an excursion.

Be Careful! Don't use 'do' with any of these words. Don't say, for example, ' We did a bus trip '.

• alarums and excursions
• Are there any boat trips on the river?
• ballistic capsule
• bewildering
• boisterousness
• charge per unit
• Commonwealth of Australia
• conducted tour
• excretion disk
• excretory organ
• excretory product
• Excruciable
• excruciating
• excruciatingly
• excruciation
• Excubitorium
• exculpation
• exculpatory
• excursion rate
• excursion ticket
• excursion train
• excursionism
• excursionist
• excursionize
• Excuse me, that's my seat
• Excuse me, which bus goes to ...?
• exculpating
• exculpations
• exculpatorily
• exculpatory clause
• Exculpatory evidence
• Excuria Recovery Services, LLC
• Excursion Inlet Seaplane Base
• Excursion Limit
• Excursion liner
• Excursion Maximum
• Excursion of Suspension
• excursion steamer
• Excursion train
• Excursion trains
• excursionise
• excursionists
• Excursions Maritimes Tropéziennes
• excursively
• excursiveness
• Facebook Share

eb68db_554395b49c2145229afb25ed2d8854c0.mp3

cruise,detour,digression,hike,outing,spin,tour

expedition,jaunt,ramble

trip, stay, hiatus, rest

Dictionary definition of excursion

A short trip or journey, usually for pleasure or a specific purpose. "She went on an excursion to the nearby city to explore the museums."

Detailed meaning of excursion

It can be a day trip or a longer trip, but it is usually a temporary departure from one's usual routine or place of residence. Excursions can be organized by travel agencies, schools, or other groups, and can include activities such as sightseeing, hiking, or visiting historical or cultural sites. It can also refer to a deviation or a departure from a main course of action or a usual path, as in a excursion from a topic in a conversation or from a main subject in a book. In general, the term implies that there is a short trip or journey, usually for pleasure or a specific purpose, whether it's a day trip or a longer trip, and that it can include different activities, and that it's a temporary departure from one's usual routine or place of residence.

Example sentences of excursion

1. We went on a thrilling mountain excursion during our vacation. 2. The school organized a field excursion to the local museum. 3. I booked an excursion to explore the coral reefs while visiting the island. 4. The excursion to the national park offered breathtaking views of the scenery. 5. The tour guide provided interesting facts during our city excursion. 6. We enjoyed a relaxing boat excursion along the river.

History and etymology of excursion

The noun 'excursion' traces its origins back to the Latin word 'excursio,' which is derived from the verb 'excurrere.' 'Excurrere' is a compound of 'ex,' meaning 'out of,' and 'currere,' meaning 'to run.' Thus, the etymology of 'excursion' can be understood as a journey that involves venturing out or running out from one's usual location or routine. Over time, this term found its way into Middle English as 'excursioun' and eventually evolved into the modern English word 'excursion.' This etymology encapsulates the essence of a short journey or trip, often taken for pleasure or a specific purpose, where one temporarily departs from their regular activities or surroundings.

Find the meaning of excursion

Further usage examples of excursion.

1. The excursion to the historic site gave us insights into the past. 2. The excursion to the amusement park was a highlight of the trip. 3. We signed up for an excursion to visit the ancient ruins. 4. The excursion included a guided hike through the forest. 5. The excursion to the vineyard offered a wine tasting experience. 6. We embarked on an exciting safari excursion to spot wildlife. 7. The excursion to the waterfall allowed us to swim in its refreshing waters. 8. The excursion to the art gallery showcased masterpieces from renowned artists. 9. We took an adventurous ATV excursion through rugged terrain. 10. The excursion to the chocolate factory delighted our taste buds. 11. The excursion to the botanical garden showcased a wide variety of plant species. 12. We joined a guided excursion to explore the underground caves. 13. The excursion to the historical landmark provided a glimpse into the past. 14. We participated in a guided snorkeling excursion to explore the vibrant marine life.

Quiz categories containing excursion

Multiple Choice

Opposite Words

Same/different

Spelling Bee

Oxford University Press's Academic Insights for the Thinking World

Walter W. Skeat and the Oxford English Dictionary

Origin Uncertain: Unraveling the Mysteries of Etymology 

Anatoly Liberman's column on word origins,  The Oxford Etymologist , appears on the OUPblog each Wednesday. Subscribe to Anatoly Liberman’s weekly etymology articles via  email  or  RSS .

• By Anatoly Liberman
• April 17 th 2024

For many years, I have been trying to talk an old friend of mine into writing a popular book on Skeat. A book about such a colorful individual, I kept repeating, would sell like hotcakes. But he never wrote it. Neither will I (much to my regret), but there is no reason why I should not devote another short essay to Skeat. In 2016, Oxford University Press published Peter Gilliver’s book The Making of the Oxford English Dictionary , a work of incredible erudition. Skeat is mentioned in it many times, and I decided to glean those mentions, to highlight Skeat’s role in the production of the epoch-making work.

Twenty-six years separated the day on which the idea of the dictionary was made public and the appearance of the first fascicle. Countless people contributed to the production of the OED , but the public, if it knows anything about the history of this project, has heard only the name of James A. H. Murray , its first and greatest editor. This is perhaps as it should be, but in the wings we find quite a few actors waiting for broader recognition. One of them is Walter W. Skeat , a man of incredible erudition and inexhaustible energy. I have lauded him more than once (see, for example, the post for November 17, 2010 , reprinted in my book Origin Uncertain … .). However, today I’ll use only the material mentioned in or suggested by Peter Gilliver.

Skeat was not only the greatest English etymologist of his time (in a way, I think, of all times, despite the progress made by this branch of linguistics since 1912, the year he died). In 1873, he also founded the English Dialect Society and remained active in it as secretary and later director until 1896 (in 1897, after fulfilling its function, the society was dissolved). He edited the numerous book-length glossaries published by the society; attended its meetings wherever they were held, and without him Joseph Wright ’s work The English Dialect Dictionary (1898-1905), still a source of inspiration to students of English, would probably not have been completed.

Among very many other things (!), he was a founding member of The Early English Text Society , and in 1865, he became a member of its committee. Neither post was “ceremonial,” for it presupposed a lot of work. Last but not least, Skeat was a generous man, a rare quality in scholars. For instance, he contributed a large sum of money to the Dialect Society at its inception, and much earlier, in 1885, he loaned Murray £1,660 for the purchase of a house in Oxford, the location of the future famous Scriptorium . Curiously, to this day, it is often the philanthropists who subsidize historical linguistics.

In the early eighteen-seventies, some influential people suggested that Skeat should become the main figure in the production of what became the OED . Fortunately, he concentrated on editing medieval texts and writing his etymological dictionary. He would not have become a second Murray, but by way of compensation, no one else would have done so much for the study of word origins and early English literature. Amazingly, Murray, a wonder of erudition, had little formal education and no university degree, while the Reverend Skeat’s background was in the classics. As individuals, Skeat and Murray represented different psychological types. Skeat was impatient and ready to bring out a book, not yet quite perfect, in the hope of a revised version. He would have been satisfied with a much smaller OED , while Murray made no concessions to haste (his invariable goal was absolute perfection, a wagon hitched to a star) and advised Skeat to wait for the completion of the OED before publishing his etymological dictionary. Fortunately, his suggestion fell on deaf ears, but Skeat’s readiness to agree that the text of the OED might be shortened infuriated Murray. (The episode was the result of a misunderstanding, and Skeat apologized.)

At that time, all thick dictionaries appeared in fascicles, which presupposed a good deal of competition among the lexicographers, the more so as a relatively small circle of publishers was involved. The people whom we know only from the names on the covers of their works were often not only colleagues and even friends but also rivals. At a certain moment, Skeat concluded that the Clarendon Press had declined to take on the OED and turned to the Press with an offer of his own etymological dictionary. As it happened, the two projects ran concurrently and did not get into each other’s way. Skeat’s work appeared in 1882, two years before the first fascicle of the OED came out. Murray once commented on Skeat’s dependence on the research at the OED , but Skeat responded rather testily that the OED had also had access to his findings. Yet Skeat remained Murray’s trusted friend and often maneuvered among various projects, to prevent other publishers from interfering with the OED . Though also hot-tempered, he was more diplomatic than Murray, and the relations between the two men remained friendly and even warm for years. To James Murray, Skeat’s death in 1912 was a heavy blow. He survived Skeat by three years. (Skeat: 1835-1912, Murray: 1837-1915.)

Throughout his life, Skeat supported the OED by his reviews (today it seems incredible that once not everybody praised Murray’s work) and kept chastising his countrymen for their ignorance and stupidity when it came to philology. He never stopped complaining that people used to offer silly hypotheses of word origins, instead of consulting the greatest authority there was. He also tried to encourage Murray, who often felt exhausted and dispirited. This is the letter he wrote to Murray, when he was working on cu -words: “I could find enough talk to cumber you. You could come by a curvilinear railway. Bring a cudgel to walk with. We will give you culinary dishes. Your holiday will culminate in sufficient rest; we can cultivate new ideas, & cull new flowers of speech. We have cutlets in the cupboards , & currants , & curry , & custards , & (naturally) cups . […] Write & say you’ll CUM!” Nor did Skeat stay away from the least interesting part of the work connected with the OED and often read the proofs of the pages before they went into print.

Gilliver states that Skeat’s support for the Dictionary and its editors in so many ways places him alongside Furnivall and Henry Hucks Gibbs. Gibbs was “a wealthy merchant banker (and director of the bank of England) who would go on to become one of the Dictionary’s greatest supporters… He had been reading for the Dictionary at least since July 1860.” And the somewhat erratic Frederick James Furnivall (1825-1910) earned fame as a central figure in the philology of his day, even though today only specialists remember him.

A picture of Furnivall can be seen on p. 12. Gibbs appears sitting in a comfortable armchair on p. 43, and on p. 67, an entry for rebeck “a rude kind of fiddle” (among other senses), subedited by Skeat, is photographed. Quite a few more bagatelles of this type can be produced by an attentive reader of Peter Gilliver’s monumental book, but for the moment, I’ll stay with Skeat.

Header: James Murray photographed in the Scriptorium on 10 July 1915 with his assistants: (back row) Arthur Maling, Frederick Sweatman, F. A. Yockney, (seated) Elsie Murray, Rosfrith Murray. Reproduced by permission of the Secretary to the Delegates of Oxford University Press.

Anatoly Liberman  is the author of  Word Origins And How We Know Them ,   An Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology: An Introduction , and  Take My Word For It: A Dictionary of English Idioms .

Anatoly's latest book,  Origin Uncertain: Unraveling the Mysteries of Etymology  (OUP, 2024), is available to pre-order. 

His column on word origins,  The Oxford Etymologist , appears on the OUPblog each Wednesday. Send your etymology question to him care of  [email protected] ; he’ll do his best to avoid responding with “origin unknown.”

Subscribe to Anatoly Liberman’s weekly etymology articles via  email  or  RSS .

• Linguistics
• Oxford Etymologist

Our Privacy Policy sets out how Oxford University Press handles your personal information, and your rights to object to your personal information being used for marketing to you or being processed as part of our business activities.

We will only use your personal information to register you for OUPblog articles.

Or subscribe to articles in the subject area by email or RSS

Related posts:

Recent Comments

There are currently no comments.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Synonyms and antonyms of excursion in English

Word of the Day

be up to your eyeballs in something

to be very busy with something

Binding, nailing, and gluing: talking about fastening things together

Learn more with +Plus

• Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}}
• Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
• Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus
• Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation
• English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
• English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
• English–Dutch Dutch–English
• English–French French–English
• English–German German–English
• English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
• English–Italian Italian–English
• English–Japanese Japanese–English
• English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
• English–Polish Polish–English
• English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
• English–Spanish Spanish–English
• English–Swedish Swedish–English
• Dictionary +Plus Word Lists

Add ${headword} to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

{{message}}

Something went wrong.

There was a problem sending your report.