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cur·rent (kûrənt, kŭr-)
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adj.
1.
a. Belonging to the present time; present-day: current events; current leaders; my current address.
b. Being in progress now: current negotiations.
2. Commonly accepted or used; prevalent: current fashions; current technology. See Synonyms at prevailing.
3. Passing from one to another; circulating, as money or a rumor: current bills and coins.
4. Running; flowing.
n.
1. A steady, smooth onward flow or movement: a current of air from a fan; a current of spoken words. See Synonyms at flow.
2. The part of a body of liquid or gas that has a continuous onward movement: rowed out into the river's swift current.
3. A general tendency, movement, or course. See Synonyms at tendency.
4. Symbol I Electricity
a. A flow of electric charge.
b. The amount of electric charge flowing past a specified circuit point per unit time, usually expressed in amperes.

[Middle English curraunt, from Old French corant, present participle of courre, to run, from Latin currere; see kers- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

current·ly adv.
current·ness n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.