succour
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsʌkə/
enpr: sŭkər
ipa: /ˈsʌkɚ/
rhymes: -ʌkə(ɹ)
homophone: sucker
Forms: form: succours
form: succor
Etymology: The noun is derived from Middle English socour, interpreted as the singular form of socours (“help; encouragement; remedy; protection; helper, protector”), which is from Anglo-Norman socurs, sucurs and Old French secors, secours (modern French secours), from Medieval Latin succursus (participle), from Latin succurrēre (“to run to the help of”), from Latin sub- (“from below”) + Latin currere (“run”).
The verb is derived from Middle English socouren (“to help”), from Anglo-Norman socure (compare modern French secourir), also from Latin succurrēre.
Senses: examples: text: Now ſtands the Brere like a Lord alone, / Puffed up with pryde and vaine pleaſaunce: / But all this glee had no continuaunce. / For eftſoones Winter gan to approche, / The bluſtring Boreas did encroche, / And beate upon the ſolitarie Brere: / For nowe no ſuccour was ſeene him neere.
ref: 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Februarie. Aegloga Se[c]unda.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Iohn Wolfe for Iohn Harrison the yonger, […], →OCLC, folio 6, verso:
text: His hand, that oft the enemy did lame, / He reach't to thoſe whoſe ſuccors were diſmayde; [...]
ref: 1583, George Whetstone, A Remembraunce of the Life, Death, and Vertues of the Most Noble and Honourable Lord, Thomas Late Erle of Sussex, […] VVho Deceased at Barmesey the 11th of June 1583, London: Imprinted by John Wolfe & Richard Jones, →OCLC; republished as A Remembraunce of the Life, Death, and Vertues of the Most Noble and Honourable Lord, Thomas Late Earle of Sussex (Frondes Caducæ), [Auchinleck, East Ayrshire]: Reprinted, at the Auchinleck Press, by Alexander Boswell, 1816, →OCLC:
text: [I]f it be lawfull for the ſubject, for religiõ [i.e., religion] to beare armes againſt his ſouereigne: then it is much more lawfull for an abſolute Prince, for Religiõ alſo to yeeld ſuccours to her diſtreſſed neighbors, againſt a Stranger.
ref: 1588, G. D., A Briefe Discoverie of Doctor Allens Seditious Drifts, Contriued in a Pamphlet Written by Him, Concerning the Yeelding Vp of the Towne of Deuenter, (in Ouerrissel) vnto the King of Spain, by Sir William Stanley. […], London: Imprinted by I. W. for Francis Coldock, →OCLC, pages 20–21:
text: Bring vs where we may reſt our ſelues, and feed: / Here's a yong maid with trauaile much oppreſſed, / And faints for ſuccour.
ref: c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv], page 192, column 1:
text: Wee'll take up cudgels, and have one bowt with 'em, / They ſhall know nothing of this union: / And till they find themſelves moſt deſperate, / Succour ſhall never ſee 'em.
ref: 1623 (first performance), John Fletcher, William Rowley, “The Maid in the Mill”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act IV, scene ii, page 18, column 1:
text: To Thee therefore, O bleſſed Jeſus, my tender Redeemer, my merciful Lord, I flee for Succour; [...]
ref: 1728, anonymous [incorrectly attributed to Saint Augustine], “An Humble Address to the Son”, in Geo[rge] Stanhope, transl., Pious Breathings. Being the Meditations of St. Augustine, His Treatise of the Love of God, Soliloquies and Manual. […], 6th edition, London: Printed for J. and J. Knapton, […], →OCLC, page 346:
text: Fatal propenſity! which preſents a barrier to the wholeſome ſuccours of advice, and cuts off retreat from error.
ref: 1796, “Letter XII”, in Elizabeth Hamilton, transl., Translation of the Letters of a Hindoo Rajah; […] In Two Volumes, volume II, London: Printed for G. G. and J. Robinson, […], →OCLC, page 41:
text: We sing alone and together for joy, love, enlightenment or entertainment; out of grief, or hate, or for emotional and spiritual succour in a musical manifestation of the human spirit.
ref: 2014, Jessica O’Bryan, Scott D. Harrison, “Prelude: Positioning Singing Pedagogy in the Twenty-first Century”, in Scott D. Harrison, Jessica O’Bryan, editors, Teaching Singing in the 21st Century (Landscapes: The Arts, Aesthetics, and Education; 14), Dordrecht; Heidelberg: Springer, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, abstract, page 1:
text: By giving succour to a Russia already conducting hostile acts against European countries beyond Ukraine, including Britain, Trump has made common cause with the greatest threat facing Europe today.
ref: 2025 March 1, “The Observer view on the Trump-Zelenskyy clash: a moment of dark reckoning”, in The Observer, →ISSN:
glosses: Aid, assistance, or relief given to one in distress; ministration.
examples: text: Then Diocleſian, / Calling aloud for Succour to the Guard, / Soon gave 'em the Alarm, and made 'em fly / With all the Wings of Speed, to reſcue 'em; [...]
ref: 1690, indicated as Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher [actually John Fletcher and Philip Massinger, and revised by Thomas Betterton], The Prophetess: Or, The History of Dioclesian. … With Alterations and Additions, after the Manner of an Opera. […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, act IV, scene i, page 43:
text: [T]he Allies having raiſed the Siege of Barcelona, penetrated as far as Madrid, which King Philip abandon'd and went to Head the Succours ſent him by France, as he declared in his Manifeſto: which Succours were ſo conſiderable, that being join'd with the Troops that had been compell'd to raiſe the Siege of Barcelona, and had marched through Navarre into Caſtile; his Army was ſtronger than that of the Allies, [...]
ref: 1741, unknown [formerly attributed to Daniel Defoe], The Life and Adventures of Mrs. Christian Davies, the British Amazon, commonly called Mother Ross: […], 2nd edition, London: Printed for R[ichard] Montagu, →OCLC, part II, page 2:
text: [T]he Megalopolitans decreed to ſend embaſſadors to the aſſembly of the Achæans, begging leave to ſolicit ſuccours from Antigonus. [...] The general aſſembly, having given audience to the embaſſadors, and reflecting, that they were not in a condition to yield them any effectual ſuccours, by reaſon of their great ſtreights, aſſented to their propoſal, and granted them leave to purſue their orders.
ref: 1747, [George Sale [et al.]], “Sect. III. The History of the Several States of Greece, from the Beginning of the Achæan League to Its Dissolution, and thence Succinctly to the Present Time. [The History of Achaia.]”, in An Universal History, from the Earliest Account of Time. […], volume VII, London: Printed for T[homas] Osborne, […]; A[ndrew] Millar, […]; and J Osborn, […], →OCLC, book II (The Grecian and Asiatic History), page 228:
text: In this critical moment the counteſs mounted a high tower, and looking eagerly towards the ſea, diſcerned a fleet at a diſtance; upon which ſhe cried out in a tranſport of joy, Succours! ſuccours! the English ſuccours! no capitulation. She was not miſtaken: the Engliſh fleet ſoon after entered the harbour, [...]
ref: 1805, Robert Henry, “The Civil and Military History of Great Britain, from the Death of King John, A.D. 1216, to the Accession of Henry IV. A.D. 1399”, in The History of Great Britain from the First Invasion of It by the Romans under Julius Cæsar. Written on a New Plan, 4th edition, volume VII, London: Printed for T[homas] Cadell, and W[illiam] Davies, […], →OCLC, section IV ([F]rom the Accession of Edward III. 24th January A.D. 1327, to the Accession of Richard II. 21st June A.D. 1377), page 224:
topics: government
military
politics
war
glosses: Aid or assistance in the form of military equipment and soldiers, especially reinforcements sent to support military action.
examples: text: The gilleflower also, the skilful doe knowe, / doe looke to be couered, in frost and in snowe. / The knot, and the border, and rosemarie gaie, / do craue the like succour for dieng awaie.
ref: 1878, Thomas Tusser, “Decembers Husbandrie”, in Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC; republished as W[illiam] Payne, Sidney J[ohn Hervon] Herrtage, editors, Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], 1878, →OCLC, stanza 22, page 64:
qualifier: obsolete except dialectal
glosses: Protection, refuge, shelter; (countable) a place providing such protection, refuge or shelter.
Derived terms: word: succourless
word: succorless
word: unsuccoured
word: unsuccored