*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of recur

Learned borrowing from Latin recurrō (“to hurry or run back; to return, revert”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + currō (“to hasten, hurry; to move, travel; to run”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱe

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
verb

Of an event, situation, etc.: to appear or happen again, especially repeatedly. · Of a disease or symptom: to happen again, especially repeatedly or after a remission or an apparent recovery. · Of a memory, thought, etc.: to come to the mind again. · To speak, think, or write about something again; to go back or return to a memory, a subject, etc.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Learned borrowing from Latin recurrō (“to hurry or run back; to return, revert”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + currō (“to hasten, hurry; to move, travel; to run”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”)). cognates * Anglo-Norman recurre, recorre (“to have recourse to”) * Catalan recórrer * Italian ricorrer * Old French recourir (Middle French recourir; modern French recourir (“to have recourse to; to run again; to run back”)) * Old Occitan recorre * Portuguese recorrer * Spanish recorrer

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 7 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*ḱers-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "lbor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "recurrō",
        "t": "to hurry or run back; to return, revert"
      },
      "expansion": "Learned borrowing from Latin recurrō (“to hurry or run back; to return, revert”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "prefix"
      },
      "expansion": "prefix"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*ḱers-",
        "t": "to run"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "col-top",
      "args": {
        "1": "2",
        "2": "cognates"
      },
      "expansion": "cognates"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "xno",
        "2": "recurre"
      },
      "expansion": "Anglo-Norman recurre"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ca",
        "2": "recórrer"
      },
      "expansion": "Catalan recórrer"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "it",
        "2": "ricorrer"
      },
      "expansion": "Italian ricorrer"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fro",
        "2": "recourir"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French recourir"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "frm",
        "2": "recourir"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle French recourir"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fr",
        "2": "recourir",
        "t": "to have recourse to; to run again; to run back"
      },
      "expansion": "French recourir (“to have recourse to; to run again; to run back”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "pro",
        "2": "recorre"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Occitan recorre"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "pt",
        "2": "recorrer"
      },
      "expansion": "Portuguese recorrer"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "es",
        "2": "recorrer"
      },
      "expansion": "Spanish recorrer"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "recurrō",
      "recurro#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "re-",
      "re-#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "currō",
      "curro#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "*ḱers-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/ḱers-"
    ],
    [
      "recurre",
      "recurre#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "recorre",
      "recorre#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "recórrer",
      "recórrer#Catalan"
    ],
    [
      "ricorrer",
      "ricorrer#Italian"
    ],
    [
      "recourir",
      "recourir#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "recourir",
      "recourir#Middle_French"
    ],
    [
      "recourir",
      "recourir#French"
    ],
    [
      "recorre",
      "recorre#Old_Occitan"
    ],
    [
      "recorrer",
      "recorrer#Portuguese"
    ],
    [
      "recorrer",
      "recorrer#Spanish"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "Of an event, situation, etc.: to appear or happen again, especially repeatedly.",
        "Of a disease or symptom: to happen again, especially repeatedly or after a remission or an apparent recovery.",
        "Of a memory, thought, etc.: to come to the mind again.",
        "To speak, think, or write about something again; to go back or return to a memory, a subject, etc."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive",
        "dated"
      ],
      "recordId": "68faa9918f9065cb5ce7c48de9f10b95059f842e40ddc77d8b978a94dd5391cc",
      "rawRecordSha256": "9193d943f954dea688e2b5b8d7416e1547038f776b5bbd41bebb12e03a731851",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 170001
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 7,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for recur →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-cmVjdXI