parkour [E21th] Parkour, the new sport of moving rapidly and gracefully through and over an urban environment (also known as free running), is an alteration of the French parcours, a jogging track with exercise stations at intervals. This French word originally meant the right to move animals or pursue game, ultimately going back to Latin percurrere ‘to run, move quickly over or through’ formed from currere ‘to run’ (see cursor).