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; Middle English: courier (def 2 from late 16th century) < Latin: a runner, racer, courier, equivalent to cur(rere) to run + -sor, for -tor -tor; cf. course

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
cursor (ˈkɜːsə) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
1.  the sliding part of a measuring instrument, esp a transparent sliding square on a slide rule
2.  any of various means, typically a flashing bar or underline, of identifying a particular position on a computer screen, such as the insertion point for text

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Cursor is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
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Etymonline
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, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

cursor definition


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, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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Example sentences
Links to information about the subjects of the pictures appear when a user rolls a cursor over certain parts of the image.
As with other command line tools, it takes some effort to learn what to type at the blinking cursor.
Keep your left hand on the numeric pad and put the cursor over enter in the screen.
Decent speakers, comfortable keyboards and trackpads that do something other than send the cursor careening around the screen.
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