Recourse

How to spell recourse

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce recourse

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does recourse mean?

1. nounA source of help or a course of action one can turn to in a difficulty, especially when other options have failed.

Recourse in a sentence

• With the warranty expired, her only recourse was to pay for the repair herself.

• The tenants had no recourse but to take the landlord to court.

Where does recourse come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin recursus, meaning 'a running back' or 'a return', which was formed from the verb recurrere, combining re- 'back' with currere 'to run'. The literal image is of running back to a place of safety or supply when you are in trouble, and that picture of returning for help is exactly what survives in the modern meaning. English took the word in the late 1300s from Old French recours, and the noun 'course' you can still see inside it shares the very same currere root, which is why the second half is spelled with that quiet -ourse rather than the -orse of words like 'remorse'. The shared curr,run ancestry also links recourse to a whole family of relatives such as 'occur', 'current' and 'cursor'. Remembering that recourse is literally a re-course, a running back for help, makes the spelling far easier to hold onto.

How the word is built

• re- (back, again)
• course (a running, from Latin currere 'to run')