succour
/ˈsʌkə/
"succour" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“succour” is an uncommon English word, ranked #67,086 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #67,086
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Aid, assistance, or relief given to one in distress; ministration.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | succour |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsʌkə/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #67,086 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “succour” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for succour is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsʌkə/. Corpus data places it at rank #67,086 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for succour in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is derived from Middle English socour, interpreted as the singular form of socours (“help; encouragement; remedy; protection; helper, protector”), which is from Anglo-Norman socurs, sucurs and Old French secors, secours (modern French secours), fro… The correct English form is succour, spelled S-U-C-C-O-U-R.
Definition
- 1Aid, assistance, or relief given to one in distress; ministration.
- 2Aid or assistance in the form of military equipment and soldiers, especially reinforcements sent to support military action.
- 3Protection, refuge, shelter; (countable) a place providing such protection, refuge or shelter.
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English socour, interpreted as the singular form of socours (“help; encouragement; remedy; protection; helper, protector”), which is from Anglo-Norman socurs, sucurs and Old French secors, secours (modern French secours), from Medieval Latin succursus (participle), from Latin succurrēre (“to run to the help of”), from Latin sub- (“from below”) + Latin currere (“run”). The verb is derived from Middle English socouren (“to help”), from Anglo-Norman socure (compare modern French secourir), also from Latin succurrēre.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “succour”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-U-C-C-O-U-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsʌkə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.