Etymograph

English

recourse

Recourse comes from Latin recursus ‘returned, reverted’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-1‘to run’next step skipped: Latin recurrō
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecursus1‘returned, reverted’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400recours1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500recours1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1563recourse1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English recourse
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1563, John Foxe, Martyrdom of Thomas Bilney: “[…] the flame departing and recoursing thrice ere the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-Wiktionary, English recourse‘to run’next step skipped: Latin recurrō
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecursusWiktionary, English recourse‘returned, reverted’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400recoursWiktionary, English recourse
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500recoursWiktionary, English recourse
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1563recourseWiktionary, English recourse. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1563, John Foxe, Martyrdom of Thomas Bilney: “[…] the flame departing and recoursing thrice ere the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’

charge, current, carry, career, rush, carrier, occur, cargo, currency, curriculum, hurry, carriage, corridor, chariot, courier, incur, discourse, intercourse, caricature, carousel, corral, precursor, concur, hurrah, cursor, corsair, recursive, hussar, concourse, recursion, carrack, courant, recur, succour, 40 more

Today it means

noun The act of seeking assistance or advice.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “recourse”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- / recourse

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