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Origin and history of recur

recur(v.)

late 14c., recuren, "to recover from illness or suffering" (a sense now obsolete); mid-15c., "to return" (to or into a place), from Latin recurrere "to return, run back, hasten back," figuratively "revert, recur," from re- "back, again" (see re-) + currere "to run" (from PIE root *kers- "to run"). Originally of persons; application to thoughts, ideas, etc., "return to the mind," is recorded from 1620s. Meaning "happen again" is from 1670s. Related: Recurred; recurring.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to recur

recurrent(adj.)

"returning from time to time, reappearing, repeated," 1660s, from French recurrent (16c.) and directly from Latin recurrentem (nominative recurrens), present participle of recurrere "run back, hasten back, return" (see recur). From 1590s as a noun ("recurrent artery or nerve," one turned back on itself).

recurring(adj.)

"returning," 1711, present-participle adjective from recur.

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Trends of recur

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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repeat
late 14c., repēten "to say what one has already said," from Old French repeter "say or do again, get back, demand the return of" (13c., Modern French répéeter) and directly from Latin repetere "do or say again; attack again," from re- "again" (see re-) + petere "to go to; attack;
resort
late 14c., "that to which one has recourse for aid or assistance, source of comfort and solace," from Old French resort "resource, a help, an aid, a remedy," back-formation from resortir "to resort," literally "to go out again," from re- "again" (see re-) + sortir "go out" (see s
Dionysian
The reference is to him in Dionysian period, a measure of 532 Julian years, at the end of which the full moons recur on the...
periodic
The periodic table in chemistry (1889) is so called for the arrangement, in which similar properties recur at intervals in...
sovereign
right of sovereignty in all nations is unalienable and indivisible, and does and can reside nowhere else ; but, not to recur...
apply
late 14c., "join or combine (with); attach (to something), adhere," from Old French aploiier "apply, use, attach" (12c., Modern French appliquer), from Latin applicare "attach to, join, connect;" figuratively, "devote (oneself) to, give attention," from ad "to" (see ad-) + plicar
return
early 14c., returnen, "to come back, come or go back to a former position" (intransitive), from Old French retorner, retourner "turn back, turn round, return" (Modern French retourner), from re- "back" (see re-) + torner "to turn" (see turn (v.)). Also in part from Medieval Latin
use
c. 1200, "employ for a purpose," from Old French user "employ, make use of, practice, frequent," from Vulgar Latin *usare "use," frequentative form of past participle stem of Latin uti "make use of, profit by, take advantage of, enjoy, apply, consume," in Old Latin oeti "use, emp
sue
late 13c., seuen, "follow after, walk behind," a sense now obsolete, from Anglo-French suer "follow after, continue," Old French suir, sivre "pursue, follow after; sue in court" (Modern French suivre), from Vulgar Latin *sequere "follow," from Latin sequi "follow" (from PIE root
cycle
late 14c., cicle, "perpetual circulating period of time, on the completion of which certain phenomena return in the same order," especially and originally in reference to astronomical phenomena, from Old French cicle and directly from Late Latin cyclus, from Greek kyklos "circle,

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