recourse

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English recours,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French recours, also recors,^[5][3][6][2] and directly borrowed from Latin recursus (“a running back, return, retreat”),^[6][2][5] from the past participle of recurrō (“to run back, return”),^[3][6][7] formed from re- (“back, again”) and currō (“to run”), from Proto-Indo-European *kers- (“to run”).^[3][4] The Anglo-Norman recurs is recorded from the early 13th century with the senses return and resort or application for help.^[8] Recur comes from the same Latin verb.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Course or movement: about 1380, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius,^[6][5] and the act of turning to someone for help about 1385, in Troilus and Criseyde.^[6] The OED's first record of this sense is Chaucer's Tale of Melibee (written about 1390).^[5] Chaucer used the word five times.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word kept the Latin sense of running or flowing back, a return;^[2][5] Chaucer used it of returning and, in the plural, of the orbits of the planets.^[10] These movement senses died out by the 18th century,^[5][11] though Johnson (1755) still listed "frequent passage" and "return" as obsolete senses.^[12] The sense of resorting to a person or thing for help prevailed, with have recourse to.^[5][13][14] By about 1475 recourse could also mean the thing or person turned to, a source of help.^[5][15] In Scots law from 1462, and later in commercial law, it is the right to demand payment, especially the claim of the holder of a bill of exchange on the drawer or endorser.^[5][13]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – course, movement (now obsolete).^[6][5]
• c. 1385 – the act of turning to someone for help.^[6] The OED's first record is c. 1390, in Chaucer.^[5]
• c. 1395 – a return, a running back (obsolete by 1668).^[5][2]
• 1438 – access to a place or person.^[5]
• 1462 – in law, the right to demand payment.^[5]
• c. 1475 – a person or thing resorted to for help.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of turning to someone or something for help or protection: She settled the dispute without recourse to the courts.^[13][14][5]
2. A person or thing turned to for help; a resource: Prayer was her last recourse.^[13][14][5]
3. (law) The right to demand payment, especially from the drawer or endorser of a bill of exchange or check that is not paid.^[13][14][5]
4. (obsolete) A running or flowing back; a return.^[5][11][12]

Word family

• nonrecourse

Related words

• recur
• recursion
• recursive
• course
• current
• resource

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
10. ^ Skeat, W. W., ed. (1894), The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, vol. VI: Glossarial Index, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
15. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press