recurred

Recurred is the simple past tense and past participle of recur, a verb meaning to happen again after an interval or to occur repeatedly. It is used to describe events, conditions, or phenomena that return following a remission, relapse, or repetition, rather than merely continuing.

Etymology and spelling: from the Latin recurrere, re- plus currere "to run." The standard past tense is recurred, spelled with a double r before the -ed suffix.

Usage notes: The term is common in medical contexts to describe symptoms or diseases that reappear, as in "The symptoms recurred after stopping medication." It also appears in academic or technical writing when analyzing patterns that repeat over time. In more general writing, synonyms include reappear or reoccur, though reoccur is sometimes discouraged by style guides when precision is desired, while recur emphasizes cyclic recurrence.

Examples: The pain recurred several times during the night. The data show that the fault recurred after long intervals.

Related terms: recurrence (the noun form), recurring (adjective or participle), reoccur (synonym in some contexts; note that some editors distinguish reoccur from recur).

See also: recurrence, reoccurrence, recurring.