Succour
To give assistance and support in times of hardship and distress.
Etymology[edit | edit source]
The noun is derived from Middle English socour, which was erroneously treated as the singular form of (“aid, assistance, help; encouragement; support; remedy, relief; sustenance; military assistance or relief; protection, refuge; helper; protector”) and other forms, from Anglo-Norman socurs, sucurs, and secors, and Old French secours, socors, socorse (compare Anglo-Norman soccour, socur, succour, succur, variants of Old French secor; modern French secours (“aid, assistance, help”), from Medieval Latin succursus (“act of succouring”), from Latin succurrēre, from succurrō (“to run to the aid of; to aid, help; to go under, run beneath; to undergo”), from sub- (prefix meaning ‘beneath, under’) + currō (“to run; to hasten, hurry; to move, proceed, travel; to traverse”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- (“to run”). The English word is cognate with Italian soccorso (“aid, assistance, help, succour”).
The verb is derived from Middle English socouren (“to aid, assist, help; to provide for one’s needs, maintain, support; to assuage, relieve, remedy; to comfort; to provide military assistance; to rescue, save; to give refuge or shelter to; to defend, protect”) and other forms, from Anglo-Norman socure and other forms (compare Middle French secourir, Old French succurir, sucurir (“to rescue; to remedy”); modern French secourir (“to help out; to succour”)), from Latin succurrēre; see further above. The English word is cognate with Italian soccorrere (“to assist, help”), Occitan secorrer, socorre, Portuguese socorrer (“to help, succour; to rescue”), Spanish socorrer (“to aid, assist, help, succour; to pay on account”).
Pronunciation[edit | edit source]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsʌkə/
- Homophone: sucker
- Hyphenation: suc‧cour
Noun[edit | edit source]
succour (countable and uncountable, plural succours) (Australian spelling, British spelling, Canadian spelling)
- (uncountable, archaic or obsolete) Aid, assistance, or relief given to one in distress; ministration.
- (uncountable, military) Aid or assistance in the form of military equipment and soldiers, especially reinforcements sent to support military action.
- (uncountable, obsolete except dialectal) Protection, refuge, shelter; (countable) a place providing such protection, refuge or shelter.
Alternative forms[edit | edit source]
- succor – American spelling
Derived terms[edit | edit source]
- succourless, succorless (American spelling)
- unsuccoured, unsuccored (American spelling)
Verb[edit | edit source]
succour (third-person singular simple present succours, present participle succouring, simple past and past participle succoured) (Australian spelling, British spelling, Canadian spelling)
- (transitive) To give aid, assistance, or help.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:help
- Antonyms: see Thesaurus:hurt
- (transitive, military) To provide aid or assistance in the form of military equipment and soldiers; in particular, for helping a place under siege.
- (transitive, obsolete except dialectal) To protect, to shelter; to provide a refuge.
Alternative forms[edit | edit source]
- succor – American spelling
- Succour at Wiktionary, the free Terran dictionary that anyone can edit.