ricorso

Forms

ricorso m (plural ricorsi)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin recursus (“a running back, return”),^[2][3][4][1] from recurrō (“to run back”),^[2][3] formed from re- and currō (“to run”).^[5] Devoto notes that the word was taken in the technical sense of the jurists.^[6] In form it is also the past participle of ricorrere, under which DELI treats it.^[7][8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DEI dates the word to the 14th century, in a geographical sense, the flowing back of rivers, and in the sense “refuge” in the Maestruzzo.^[10] The legal sense first appears as recurso in Perugian documents of the 14th or 15th century.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The old phrase corso e ricorso was said of the ebb and flow of rivers and, from the 16th century, of the tides;^[10][11] Galileo speaks of i corsi ed i ricorsi of the sea.^[11] Turning to someone for help or protection is recorded before 1595, in Tasso, and the request to a court or authority before 1540, in Guicciardini.^[7] In the 17th century the plural ricorsi also meant menstruation.^[10][11]

In 1725 Giambattista Vico used ricorso for the return of the same conditions in history, and corsi e ricorsi is recorded as a phrase from 1908.^[7] Before 1828 Vincenzo Monti used the word for the written document of an appeal.^[7] In commerce the word named recourse against a debtor from the second half of the 18th century, and German borrowed it in Rikorswechsel, a bill of recourse (1825).^[12]

Timeline

• 14th century – Ricorso is used of rivers flowing back.^[10]
• 14th–15th century – Recurso in the legal sense in Perugian documents.^[7]
• Before 1540 – Guicciardini uses ricorso for an appeal to an authority.^[7]
• Before 1595 – Tasso uses ricorso for turning to someone for help.^[7]
• 1725 – Vico uses ricorso for the recurrence of history.^[7]
• 1825 – German Rikorswechsel is recorded.^[12]
• Before 1828 – Vincenzo Monti uses ricorso for the document of an appeal.^[7]
• 1908 – Corsi e ricorsi is recorded as a phrase.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. recourse: turning to someone or something for help, advice or a means to an end, mostly in fare ricorso a: Per il tetto abbiamo fatto ricorso a un ingegnere.^[3][4][13]
2. (law) An appeal or petition to a court or an administrative authority to have a measure annulled or revised: ricorso in cassazione, ricorso gerarchico.^[3][4][9]
3. (law) The document containing such a request.^[3][4][9]
4. The periodic recurrence of facts or events, especially in Vico's corsi e ricorsi of history.^[3][4][9]
5. (medicine) The periodic return of an illness: il ricorso della febbre.^[3][14]
6. (in the plural, dated) Menstruation.^[3][4][9]
7. (building) A horizontal course of bricks set in a stone wall to bind it.^[4][8]
8. (printing) The repetition of a decorative motif on printed pages or on architecture.^[13][8]
9. (obsolete) A refuge.^[3][9][8]

Word family

• ricorsista
• controricorso

Related words

• ricorrere
• ricorsivo
• ricorsione
• corso
• Latin recursus

Usage notes

Ricorso is also the past participle of ricorrere, and in literary use an adjective “recurring”: Vico's barbarie ricorsa is the barbarism that returned in the Middle Ages.^[9][15]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f g Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 370
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
8. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
9. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3249
11. ^ a b c Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
13. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
15. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca