recurring

[ri-kur-ing, -kuhr-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR recurring ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

occurring or appearing again.

Origin of recurring

recur + -ing¹

Related formsre·cur·ring·ly, adverbun·re·cur·ring, adjective

recur

[ri-kur]

verb (used without object), re·curred, re·cur·ring.

to occur again, as an event, experience, etc.

to return to the mind: The idea kept recurring.

to come up again for consideration, as a question.

to have recourse.

Origin of recur

1610–20; earlier: to recede < Latin recurrere to run back, equivalent to re- re- + currere to run

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for recurring

reappear, persist, reiterate, repeat, return, revert, recrudesce, iterate

Examples from the Web for recurring

Contemporary Examples of recurring

Her chops landed her several TV gigs, including a recurring role as an NBC page on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
The Curious Little Shell That Restarted Jenny Slate’s Career
Luke Hopping
December 15, 2014
In 2007, trans actress Candis Cayne became the first out trans actress to have a recurring role on a primetime network TV show.
Laverne Cox, Emmy Trailblazer
Parker Molloy
July 10, 2014
Mindless bureaucratic cruelty is a recurring theme of observers of the modern state.
Government Has Made America Inept
Philip K. Howard
May 4, 2014
Almost every episode of the recurring site feature “Strong Bad Emails” offered users clickable keywords that unlocked something.
Homestar Runner, Trogdor the Burninator, and the Birth of the Internet
Rich Goldstein
April 22, 2014
Its recurring phrase is now the deadening, argument-stifling “As a mom,” cited frequently by Jenny McCarthy and Sherri Shepherd.
Don’t Remember Barbara Walters for ‘The View’
Tim Teeman
April 8, 2014

Historical Examples of recurring

One might edge a wall-paper or fringe a robe with a recurring decimal.
Alarms and Discursions
G. K. Chesterton
This recurring interest in women was a symptom of the 168 disease he had not yet shaken off.
Louisiana Lou
William West Winter
But he seems to have supposed that the course of events was recurring rather than progressive.
Timaeus
Plato
And so on, over and over, with the one recurring burden—what was the captain going to do?
Cy Whittaker's Place
Joseph C. Lincoln
I can say that not an hour passes without my mind's recurring to my plan.
The Voyages and Adventures of Captain Hatteras
Jules Verne

British Dictionary definitions for recurring

recur

verb -curs, -curring or -curred (intr)

to happen again, esp at regular intervals

(of a thought, idea, etc) to come back to the mind

(of a problem, etc) to come up again

maths (of a digit or group of digits) to be repeated an infinite number of times at the end of a decimal fraction

Derived Formsrecurring, adjectiverecurringly, adverb

Word Origin for recur

C15: from Latin recurrere, from re- + currere to run

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for recurring

adj.

1711, present participle adjective from recur.

recur

late 14c., "recover from illness or suffering;" mid-15c., "to return" (to a place), from Latin recurrere "to return, run back, hasten back," figuratively "revert, recur," from re- "back, again" (see re-) + currere "to run" (see current (adj.)). Originally of persons; application to thoughts, ideas, etc. is recorded from 1620s. Meaning "happen again" is from 1670s. Related: Recurred; recurring.

recurring in Medicine

recur

[rĭ-kûr′]

v.

To happen, come up, or show up again or repeatedly.

To return to one's attention or memory.