recurrente

Forms

recurrente m or f (masculine and feminine plural recurrentes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin recurrēns (“running back, returning”), the present participle of recurrō (“to run back, return”).^[1][2] The DLE also analyses it as from Spanish recurrir + -nte, and the 2001 edition called it the old present participle of that verb.^[3][4] Corominas lists it, without a date, among the derivatives of recurrir, first recorded in Alonso de Palencia (1490).^[5]

The same participle was borrowed as French récurrent, Catalan recurrent, Portuguese recorrente and Italian ricorrente.^[6][7][8][1] The Latin verb is also continued by the popular recorrer, beside the learned verb.^[5][9]

The Latin verb is formed from re- and currō (“to run”).^[10][1] Wiktionary traces the simple verb to Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”).^[1] De Vaan lists currus (“chariot”) among its derivatives.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, in the Selva de epítetos (c. 1500), is medical: recurrente is listed among the epithets of a fever (calentura).^[12]

Semantic evolution

Anatomy took up the word in the late 16th century for the nerves that turn back on their course: the 1594 statutes of the University of Salamanca prescribe showing students los nervios recurrentes que sirven a la voz.^[12] The legal sense, the party who lodges an appeal, is recorded from a document of 1737, and in Peru in 1814.^[12][13] Mathematics has series recurrentes from 1793.^[12] The Academy entered it in 1869 only as “one who appeals”, and Alemany added the anatomical sense in 1917.^[14][15] In the Americas the sense “recurring after an interval” is recorded in Caracas in 1978 and in Mexico in 1986.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1500 – the Selva de epítetos lists it among the epithets of a fever.^[12]
• 1594 – the statutes of the University of Salamanca speak of the nervios recurrentes.^[12]
• 1737 – la parte recurrente, the appellant, in a legal document.^[12]
• 1793 – series recurrentes in mathematics.^[12]
• 1869 – first in the Academy's dictionary.^[14]
• 1917 – Alemany adds the anatomical sense.^[15]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That has recourse (recurrir) or appeals.^[3]
2. recurrent: that happens or appears again, especially after an interval: un sueño recurrente.^[3][1][16]
3. (anatomy) Of a vessel or nerve: turning back at some point of its course towards its origin.^[3][17][18]
4. (mathematics) Of a process: that repeats itself.^[3]

Noun

1. (law) A person who lodges or has lodged an appeal (recurso).^[3][17]

Related words

• recurrir
• recurso
• recorrer
• Latin recurro

Usage notes

Fiebre recurrente “relapsing fever” is a set phrase.^[3][17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 851
3. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. recurrente
4. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. recurrente
5. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 208
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. récurrent
7. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. recurrent
8. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. recorrente
9. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. recurrere
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c d e f g h Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. recurrente
13. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. recorrente
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 663
15. ^ a b Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1428
16. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. recurrente
17. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. recurrente
18. ^ Real Academia Nacional de Medicina (2011), Diccionario de términos médicos, Madrid: Editorial Médica Panamericana; online at https://dtme.ranm.es, p. s.v. recurrente