full-course

The compound adjective "full-course" is a modern English formation that logically combines two native concepts. The word "full" has Germanic roots, traceable to Proto-Germanic fullaz and ultimately to the Proto-Indo-European pl̥h₁nós, carrying the enduring sense of completeness. "Course" entered English via the Norman French cours, deriving from the Latin cursus (a running, journey), which itself comes from the verb currere (to run). The semantic evolution from "a run" to "a prescribed path or series" (as in a meal or studies) occurred in Medieval Latin and French. Thus, "full-course" literally means a "complete series," whether applied to a multi-part meal or an educational program, linking the ancient idea of a completed journey to a modern structured sequence.

Structure: full (complete) + course (a part of a meal or a series of studies) - full: From Old English full, meaning "complete, entire." It functions as an intensifying adjective modifying the noun. - course: From Old French cours, meaning "a running, a flow," and ultimately from Latin cursus, meaning "a running race or journey." In this compound, it functions as a noun meaning a part of a meal or a series of lessons.