Recurrent

How to spell recurrent

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce recurrent

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does recurrent mean?

1. adjectiveOccurring repeatedly or returning again and again over time.
2. adjectiveIn medicine, describing a condition or anatomical structure that returns or turns back along its own course.

Recurrent in a sentence

• The report flagged a recurrent problem with the billing software.

• The surgeon was careful to avoid damaging the recurrent laryngeal nerve.

• She suffered from recurrent headaches that returned every afternoon.

• The patient was treated for a recurrent urinary infection.

Where does recurrent come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb recurrere, meaning 'to run back' or 'to return', formed from the prefix re-, meaning 'again' or 'back', and currere, meaning 'to run'. The same currere root powers a whole family of familiar English words, including 'current', 'occur', 'cursor' and 'course', all of which carry a sense of running or flowing. English adopted 'recurrent' in the early 1600s, first in anatomical and medical writing to describe nerves and vessels that turn back on their own path, and then more broadly for anything that keeps coming round again. The spelling trap lives in the ending: like 'current' it finishes with -ent rather than -ant, and the single 'c' followed by the doubled 'r' sound (one written 'r') catches people who expect a double consonant. Keeping the parent word 'current' in mind, with its -ent ending, anchors the correct spelling.

How the word is built

• re- (again, back)
• curr (run, from Latin currere)
• -ent (adjective suffix)