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A.Word.A.Day--succor

This week's theme: Uncommon homophones of common words

succor or succour (SUK-uhr)

noun: 1. Help or relief in time of distress. 2. One who gives help.
verb tr.: To help someone in a difficult situation.

[Via Middle English and French from Latin succurrere (to run to help). Ultimately from Indo-European root kers- (to run) that's also the source of car, career, carpenter, occur, discharge, and caricature.]

"Just as Kipling's man-cub found succor with an improbable mother, so too were the seeds of his tale sown in unlikely ground: the rocky hills of rural Vermont."
Carolyn Juris; Mowgli, the Man-cub From Wild Vermont; The San Francisco Chronicle; Oct 23, 2005.

See more usage examples of succor in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

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