recur
re·cur/ɹɪˈkɜɹ/verb
recur is spelled R-E-C-U-R: 5 letters and 2 syllables (re·cur). It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,209th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “recur vs reoccur” about 230 times a month (Bing, United States). As a verb, recur means “Of an event, situation, etc.: to appear or happen again, especially repeatedly” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in recur?
| Letters | 5: R-E-C-U-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: re·cur |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 44,209th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is recur?
Recur appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 44,209th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce recur?
- UK /ɹɪˈkɜː/
- US /ɹɪˈkɜɹ/
- /ɹɪˈkɛː/
Recur has 2 syllables, split re·cur in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-recur.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with recur
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with recur?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as recur from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: curer.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of recur
- recurs present, singular, he/she/it
- recurring participle, present
- recurred participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does recur mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
Of an event, situation, etc.: to appear or happen again, especially repeatedly.
The theme of the prodigal son recurs later in the third act.
- 2
Of a disease or symptom: to happen again, especially repeatedly or after a remission or an apparent recovery.
- 3
Of a memory, thought, etc.: to come to the mind again.
- 4
datedTo speak, think, or write about something again; to go back or return to a memory, a subject, etc.
- 5
archaicFollowed by to, or (Scotland, obsolete) on or upon: to have recourse to someone or something for assistance, support, etc.; to appeal, to resort, to turn to.
- 6
Synonym of recurse (“to execute a procedure recursively”).
- 7
Often in the form recurring following a number: of a numeral or group of numerals in a decimal fraction: to repeat indefinitely.
One-third can be written in decimal form as 0.3333 …, or point three-recurring.
- 8
obsoleteFollowed by into or to: to go to a place again; to return.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Recur in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense of an event, situation, etc.: to appear or happen again, especially repeatedly:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | réapparaître, resurvenir, revenir |
| Portuguese | reocorrer |
| Spanish | repetirse, volver a acontecer, acaecer de nuevo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does recur come from?
Learned borrowing from Latin recurrō (“to hurry or run back; to return, revert”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + currō (“to hasten, hurry; to move, travel; to run”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).