Recurring

How to spell recurring

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce recurring

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does recurring mean?

1. adjectiveHappening repeatedly or returning again and again over time.

Recurring in a sentence

• The same recurring error appeared every time she ran the report.

• A recurring payment is taken from the account on the first of each month.

Where does recurring come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word grows out of the Latin verb recurrere, meaning 'to run back' or 'to return', formed from re- 'back, again' and currere 'to run'. The same currere root gives English a whole family of motion words, including 'current', 'course', 'cursor', and 'occur', all carrying the idea of running or flowing. English adopted the verb 'recur' in the fifteenth century, originally with the literal sense of returning or running back, which softened into the modern meaning of happening repeatedly. 'Recurring' is simply its present participle, used so often as an adjective that it now stands on its own for anything that keeps coming back. The spelling trap lives in the consonant: the final r of the stem doubles before -ing because the stress falls on the second syllable, so it is 'recurring', not the tempting single-r 'recuring'.

How the word is built

• re- (again, back)
• cur (run, from Latin currere)
• -r- (doubled consonant)
• -ing (present participle)