Chrysti the Wordsmith began her talk at TechRanch Thursday by deconstructing the appropriately chosen word "entrepreneur."

The word stems from a French verb "entreprendre," meaning to seize or undertake, Smith said.

At one time "entrepreneur" was applied to people who sought military adventures and conquests, or even someone who planned amorous missions. But by the 1820s, the English had "borrowed the word" and its meaning evolved, she said.

"And it's since been put to good use to (describe) a certain type of business person," she said.

"I thought 'entrepreneur' was the perfect word for her to dissect today," TechRanch Executive Director John O'Donnell said afterwards.

Chrysti Smith hosts a 2-minute radio segment that highlights the origins and histories of words and phrases. The series is produced in KGLT-FM's studio on the Montana State University campus.

She was invited to TechRanch Thursday to talk about the origins of words common to the lexicon of entrepreneurs, a somewhat different take on the bimonthly lecture series that aims to build start-up business owners' professional knowledge.

"She's well known in the area by everybody, and what she does could definitely apply to what we do in a fun kind of way," said Prairie Lee, TechRanch's assistant business manager.

Another word commonly used in the modern workaday world is "cursor," Smith told the "verbivores."

"Cursor" comes from a Latin verb, "currere," which means to run.

Originally, a "cursor" was a runner or a running messenger, Smith said.

In the late 1500s and early 1600s, the word was used to describe a "part of a mathematical, astronomical or surveying instrument, which slides backwards and forwards," according to information Smith found in the Oxford English Dictionary, which she called "the mother of all dictionaries." By the late 1960s, people in technology fields began using the term as it is used today. Sometimes her research into a word or phrase's origins surprise her, as was the case with "cursor," Smith said. "I would have thought it would have been invented in the 1980s," she said. The radio segment "Chrysti the Wordsmith" can be heard on KGLT, Yellowstone Public Radio and the Armed Forces Radio Network.

Camden Easterling is at ceasterling@dailychronicle.com.