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Cursor

 - 4 dictionary results

cur⋅sor

[kur-ser]
–noun
1. Computers. a movable, sometimes blinking, symbol that indicates the position on a CRT or other type of display where the next character entered from the keyboard will appear, or where user action is needed, as in the correction of an erroneous character already displayed.
2. a sliding object, as the lined glass on a slide rule, that can be set at any point on a scale.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME: courier (def. 2 from late 16th century) < L: a runner, racer, courier, equiv. to cur(rere) to run + -sor, for -tor -tor; cf. course
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cur·sor   (kûr'sər)   
n.   Computer Science
A bright, usually blinking, movable indicator on a display, marking the position at which a character can be entered, corrected, or deleted.

[Middle English, runner, from Latin, from cursus, past participle of currere, to run; see kers- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

cursor 
computer sense is 1967 extension of name for the sliding part of a slide rule or other instrument (1594), earlier "a running messenger" (c.1300), from L. cursor "runner," from currere "to run" (see current).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

cursor
1. A visually distinct mark on a display indicating where newly typed text will be inserted. The cursor moves as text is typed and, in most modern editors, can be moved around within a document by the user to change the insertion point.
2. In SQL, a named control structure used by an application program to point to a row of data. The position of the row is within a table or view, and the cursor is used interactively so select rows from columns.
(1996-12-27)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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