Recur
/rɪˈkɜːr/
Definitions
2 meaningsTo happen or occur again.
/rɪˈkɜːr/
To happen or occur again or repeatedly.
The same problem recurs every year.
💡 Simply: Imagine a show you love. If it comes back again, that show recurs! It keeps happening.
👶 For kids: To happen again and again, like a favorite game you play a lot.
More Examples
If the pain recurs, see a doctor.
The meeting will recur on Tuesdays.
How It's Used
"The problem recurs every spring."
"The doctor is concerned that the illness might recur."
"The system is designed to recur the backup process every night."
To go back to a specific topic.
/rɪˈkɜːr/
To return to a particular subject or topic.
The speaker often recurs to the theme of environmentalism.
💡 Simply: Imagine you're in a conversation, and you keep coming back to the same thing. That's like recurring to a topic.
👶 For kids: To talk about the same thing over and over again, like when you really, really want a cookie.
More Examples
Let's not recur the argument we had yesterday.
He tends to recur his personal struggles in his novels.
How It's Used
"Let's not recur the discussion of the budget deficit again."
"The professor recurred the argument for a few minutes at the end of the lecture."
Idioms & expressions
recur to one's mind
To come into one's thoughts or memory again.
"The memory of that day recurred to my mind years later."
From Latin *recurrere* meaning 'to run back, hasten back'. *Re-* means 'back' and *currere* means 'to run'.
In older texts, 'recur' might be used in a more formal and less frequent manner, often in the context of intellectual discussions.
Memory tip
Think of a 'circle' that repeats - the event RECURS.
Word Origin
"to run back, hasten back"