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Wednesday October 14, 2009

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succor [SUH-kuhr]

noun

1. Aid; help; assistance; especially, assistance that relieves and delivers from difficulty, want, or distress.
2. The person or thing that brings relief.

• Furthermore, if Nato's mission in Afghanistan were to fail then the whole "existential deterrent" component of the venture would come crashing down: jihadists around the world would be given inspiration and succor, and Afghanistan would likely again become a haven for al-Qaeda and its affiliates.
  Anthony Loyd, "Weary troops are fighting a losing battle, not a lost cause", The Times, Sep 23, 2009
• Mr. Ma reluctantly allowed the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of the Tibetans, who is accused of being a separatist by mainland China, to visit Taiwan last week to give succor to typhoon victims. Some analysts said it was a sign of Mr. Ma's desperation.
  Edward Wong, "Premier Of Taiwan Steps Down", New York Times, Sep 8, 2009
• I simply stepped into a cockle-shell and put out into an unknown ocean, where all manner of derelicts needed help and succor. The ocean was a life of which I had heretofore known nothing; miserable, overburdened, and sometimes criminal.
  Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856 - 1923) An American educator and author children's stories. The Girl and the Kingdom Learning to Teach (1915)

Origin of the Word

Succor, approximately 1225, derives from Middle French sucurres, from Medieval Latin succursus "help, assistance," from past participle of Latin succurrere "run to help," from sub "up to" + currere "to run."