Standard Lemma guide

recurrent

adj · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Australian, Received-Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈkʌɹənt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada, General-American: /ɹɪˈkɝənt/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ʌɹənt
  • CMU ARPABET: R IH0 K ER1 AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: R IY0 K ER1 AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Recurring; happening time after time.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Examples

  • The patient complained of recurrent chest pain.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: perennial, repetitious, habitual, monotonous, recurrent, recurring, repeating, repetitional, repetitionary, repetitive

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Non-transient.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Qualifier: stochastic processes

Topics: mathematics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: persistent

Antonyms: transient

3

adj

Meaning 3

Running back toward its origin.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: anatomy, biology, botany, medicine, natural-sciences, sciences

Examples

  • a recurrent nerve or artery

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: precurrent

4

adj

Meaning 4

Turned back toward the base.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: biology, entomology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective satellite

Meaning 5

recurring again and again

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • perennial efforts to stipulate the requirements

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: perennial, repeated

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Latin recurrens, present participle of recurrere. Morphologically recur + -ent.

Across languages

Translations

44 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: повтарящ се (povtarjašt se) — recurring time after time
  • Catalan: recurrent — recurring time after time
  • Finnish: uusiutuva — recurring time after time
  • Finnish: toistuva — recurring time after time
  • French: périodique — recurring time after time
  • French: récurrent — recurring time after time
  • Galician: recorrente — recurring time after time
  • Georgian: განმეორებითი (ganmeorebiti) — recurring time after time
  • Georgian: პერიოდული (ṗerioduli) — recurring time after time
  • Georgian: დროდადრო განმეორებადი (drodadro ganmeorebadi) — recurring time after time
  • Georgian: პერიოდულად განმეორებადი (ṗeriodulad ganmeorebadi) — recurring time after time
  • Georgian: რეგულარულად განმეორებადი (regularulad ganmeorebadi) — recurring time after time
  • German: wiederholt — recurring time after time
  • German: wiederkehrend — recurring time after time
  • Irish: athfhillteach — recurring time after time
  • Italian: ricorrente — recurring time after time
  • Japanese: 再発性の (saihatsusei no) — recurring time after time
  • Manx: aahaghyrtagh — recurring time after time
  • Māori: auau — recurring time after time
  • Māori: tāruarua — recurring time after time
  • Māori: huirangi — recurring time after time
  • Portuguese: recorrente — recurring time after time
  • Romanian: recurent — recurring time after time
  • Romanian: reînceput — recurring time after time
  • Romanian: repetat — recurring time after time
  • Russian: повторя́ющийся (povtorjájuščijsja) — recurring time after time
  • Russian: возвраща́ющийся (vozvraščájuščijsja) — recurring time after time
  • Russian: рециди́вный (recidívnyj) — recurring time after time
  • Russian: возвра́тный (vozvrátnyj) — recurring time after time
  • Russian: периоди́ческий (periodíčeskij) — recurring time after time
  • Spanish: recurrente — recurring time after time
  • Swedish: återkommande — recurring time after time
  • Turkish: nükseden — recurring time after time
  • Turkish: tekrarlayan — recurring time after time
  • Turkish: reküran — recurring time after time
  • Turkish: rekürent — recurring time after time
  • Bulgarian: рекурентен (rekurenten) — math: non-transient
  • German: rekurrent — math: non-transient
  • Hebrew: נשנה (nishné) — math: non-transient
  • Russian: рекурре́нтный (rekurréntnyj) — math: non-transient
  • Turkish: rekurrent — math: non-transient
  • Georgian: შექცევითი (šekceviti) — running back toward its origin
  • Portuguese: recorrente — running back toward its origin
  • Spanish: recurrente — running back toward its origin
Real reading context

recurrent in complete knowledge articles