▪ I. succour, n.
(ˈsʌkə(r))
Forms: α. 3 sucurs, sukurs, 4 socurs, -ourse, Sc. succouris, 4–5 socoures, 4–6 socours, Sc. succourss, 5 socors, socouris, 5, 7 secours, 6 souc(c)oures, Sc. succurss, -urris, 6–7 succors, succours, 7 succourse. β. 3–5 socur, 3–6 socour, 4 succure, sukour, soker, 4–5 sokour, socure, 4, 6 succur, 4–6 socoure, 5 soucour, socor, socowre, sokoure, 5–6 sucour, 6 suc(c)oure, socowr, Sc. suckyr, 6–7 sucker, 8 souccour, 6– (now U.S.) succor, 4– succour.
[ME. sucurs, socurs, socours, etc., a. OF. (AF.) sucurs, soc(c)ours, etc. (mod.F. secours) = It. soccorso:—med.L. succursu-s, n. of action f. succurrĕre to succour. The final -s was at an early date apprehended as the plural suffix and a new singular (succour) came into existence, the plural of which is identical with the old singular.
G. succurs (from OF.) is used in the military sense, and MDu. secors, socoers, in the general sense.]
1. Aid, help, assistance.
| α a 1225 Ancr. R. 244 Inward,..bonen biwinneð sone sucurs & help..aȝean flesches fondunges. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 136 Thai waken Crist and askes socoures Wit orisoun. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 328 Till god sum succouris till him send. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1341 Withouten hys socourse, Twenty tyme y-swowned hath she thanne. c 1460 Sir R. Ros La Belle Dame 847, I can no mor, but aske of hem socours. 1533 Bellenden Livy (B. M. MS.) iii. v. (S.T.S.) II. App. 306 Þe romans knew vele þai war freyndis cumin to þair succurss. a 1542 Wyatt ‘So feble is the threde’ 3 But it have elleswhere some aide or some socours The runnyng spyndell of my fate anon shall end his cours. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasmus Par. Matt. iii. 11 b, Who so euer distrusting god doe leane vnto the souccoures of this world. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. iv. §2 Luther..being no waies ayded by the opinions of his owne time, was enforced.. to call former times to his succors. |
| β c 1290 Beket 60 in S. Eng. Leg. 108 Þoruȝ grace þat heo hadde Of Iesu crist, and socur of men þat hire ouer ladden. a 1300 Cursor M. 24479 Her-wit come me son succur And sum lightnes o mi langur. c 1315 Shoreham ii. 5 Gode atende to my socour. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 3284 Þe folk fleiȝe vnfain And socour criden schille. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 293 Clepende and criende al the day For socour and deliverance. c 1450 Merlin iii. 50 We haue heere no vitaile to abide after socour of oure frendes. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxxvi. 29 At hellis ȝettis he gaf hyme na succour. 1523 Act 14 & 15 Hen. VIII, c. 13 The said Haven [was] greatly amended to the sucour and comfort of all the marchauntes ther resortyng. 1551 Crowley Pleas. & Payne 221 No man shall him heare Nor at his nede shewe him succoure. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. iv. 75 Here's a yong maid with travaile much oppressed, And faints for succour. 1613 ― Hen. VIII, v. iv. 55, I might see from farre, some forty Truncheoners draw to her succour. 1681 Belon New Myst. Physick Introd. 23 To this purpose, we must fly again to Chymistry for Succor. 1748 Anson's Voy. ii. iii. 151 Indians..bartered their fish..with our people. This was indeed some little succour. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 4 ¶6 The devotion of life or fortune to the succour of the poor. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 80 Many exiles, who had come..to apply for succour, heard their sentence, and went brokenhearted away. 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn lvi, Paul's first impulse was to fly to the succour of his Roman brethren. |
† b. to do succour, to give assistance to. Obs.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 4903 He þat has yow don socur Stoln haue yee of his tresur. c 1374 Chaucer Compl. Mars 292 Her that, with vnfeyned humble chere, Was euere redy to do yow socoure. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxv. 224 Oberon..dyd me such socoure and ayde, that I came to my purpose. |
2. One who or that which helps; a means of assistance; an aid.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 21846 To be vr socur at vr end. ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 1606 Ther may no thyng ben his socour. 1382 Wyclif 2 Sam. xxi. 17 Abisay, the sone of Saruye, was to hym a socour. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 1019 Eek the blossom greet socour is Of euery tre ther swetnesse in the flour is. c 1450 Merlin 11 God be my socoure in my moste nede as I haue seide trouth. 1535 Coverdale Ps. xxi. 19 Thou art my sucoure, haist the to helpe me. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Wisd. xvii. 11 Feare is nothing els, but a betraying of the succours, which reason offreth. 1620 Fletcher, etc. Double Marr. v. ii, You have lost two noble succors. 1696 Stanhope Chr. Pattern (1711) 79 Since then so little confidence is due to his succours, the concern ought not to be great, if he withdraw..them. 1750 Johnson Rambler No. 167 ¶6 The succours of sickness ought not to be wasted in health. 1829 I. Taylor Enthus. x. 264 Christianity..even when unaided by those secular succours. |
3. Military assistance in men or supplies; esp. auxiliary forces; reinforcements.
| sing. α a 1225 Ancr. R. 232 Hwoso is siker of sukurs þet him schal sone kumen, & ȝelt tauh up his kastel to his wiðer⁓wines. 1375 Barbour Bruce xix. 641 In thar cuntre heir ar we, Quhar that may cum vs na succourss. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. ii. viii. 106 He had but a fewe folke but he wayted after a grete secours. 1523 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. V. 212 That my lord of Arrane and succurris suld haist thaim to him. 1533 Bellenden Livy v. ii. (S.T.S.) II. 147 Mvniciouns..to resist euery succurss or supple þat mycht cum þarefra. 1608 Chapman Byron's Conspir. i. i. 26 Spaines colde friendship, and his lingring succours. a 1648 Ld. Herbert Hen. VIII (1683) 621 To send several Ambassadors into England and France to demand succours. |
| β 1297 R. Glouc. 11980 Þat hom ne com no socour hii seie al so wel, So þat..hii ȝolde vp þen castel. 1340–70 Alisaunder 148 Þei see no succour in no syde aboute, That was come to hur koste þe king for to lett. c 1400 Destr. Troy 9700 Prayond hom..For to buske hym to batell, & þo buernes helpe In offence of hor fos, and hor fuerse socour. 1470–85 Malory Arthur iii. xi. 113 Kyng Pellinore..gaf hym an old courser, and kyng Arthur gaf hym armour and a swerd, and els had he none other socour. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 18 b, He was required to make hast,..although he brought no succor with him. 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. lxxiii, Our watchful General had discern'd from far This mighty succour, which made glad the Foe. 1802 James Milit. Dict., Succour, in war, assistance in men, stores, or ammunition. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 665 Succour, an enterprise undertaken to relieve a place besieged or blockaded, by either forcing the enemy from before it, or throwing in supplies. 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. (ed. 3) 414/1 To throw succour or help into a place means to introduce armed men, ammunition, provisions, &c. into a besieged place. |
| pl. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. V, 79 Perceivyng that their succours were taken, [they] playnely judged that the toune could not long continue. 1625–8 tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. ii. (1688) 226 To provoke them to Battel, before all their Succours were come together out of France and Germany. 1663 Wharton in 11th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 13 A great defeat given the Dutch by the Bishop..upon which the French succours are returned, re infecta. 1741 Middleton Cicero II. x. 417 Antony had invested it so closely..that no succours could be thrown into it. 1768 Boswell Corsica ii. (ed. 2) 114 The succours which he left were not of much avail. 1805 James Milit. Dict. (ed. 2), To throw in succours, to introduce armed men, ammunition, provisions, &c. into a besieged place. 1842 Macaulay Lake Reg. xiii, There rode the Volscian succours. 1854 J. S. C. Abbott Napoleon (1855) I. xiii. 223 The French hoped that they were French ships conveying to them succors from Alexandria or from France. |
4. Shelter, protection; a place of shelter, sheltered place, refuge. Obs. exc. dial.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 5600 Þe kinges kin..O quam sprang of þe sauueur þat broght vs all in-to socur. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 323 Alle þat drawen men out of þe chirche or seintuarie, whanne þei fleen þeder for sukour after here manslauȝter or þefte, ben cursed. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 137 Of þe oþer deel he made places of socour for pore men. c 1450 in Kingsford Chron. London (1905) 132 A ffalse Breton morderyd a wedew..and aftyrward he toke socor of Holy Chirche at Seynt Georgis in Suthwerk. 1458 in Turner Dom. Archit. (1851) III. 43 It was a greet socour of erthe & of sonde. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 62 In tempest..warme barth vnder hedge is a sucker to beast. 1622 R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 100 It is full of good succors for shipping. 1628 in Foster Eng. Factories India (1909) III. 217 This is noe good place to winter in, it being..noe sucker for them from the wether. 1636 in Wilts Arch. Mag. XXIII. 259 A place that in winter time was a special and usual succour for preserving the breed of young deer belonging to the Chace. 1641 Best Farm. Bks. (Surtees) 72 Riggons neaver goe well of but att one time of the yeare,..unlesse it bee with such as have good succour for them. 1850 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XI. ii. 687 The young beech plants must have ‘succour’, that is shelter, themselves, or they will not grow. 1893 Wilts. Gloss. s.v., On bleak parts of the Downs the cottages are mostly to be found in the succours. |
† 5. A tributary (of a river). Obs.
| 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 199 One of the succours to Medway. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 644 Hauing gotten fresh helpe of some other streames, that send in their succours. |
† 6. A pecuniary aid, subsidy. Obs.
| 1605 Verstegan Dec. Intell. x. (1628) 322 A certaine payment was wont to be made among the souldiers like vnto that which is now called succors. 1619 Carleton in Eng. & Germ. (Camden) 51 The succours of this State wilbe..50{supm} florins a monthe for the space of a yeare. |
7. Comb., as succour-giver, succour-suer.
| 1593 Succour-suer [see submissioner]. c 1600 J. Bryan in Farr S.P. Eliz. (1845) II. 333 God help to me doth send, And to my succour-giuers Is an assisting friend. |
▪ II. succour, v.
(ˈsʌkə(r))
Forms: 3–5 socur(e, 3–6 socoure, 4–5 -owre, sokoure, -ere, soccoure, 4–6 socour, succur, 5–6 succoure, 6–7 sucker, (3 sucuri, soco(u)ri, -y, 4 socurry, soucouri, sokore, socre, succure, sukere, pa. pple. ysucrod, y-, i-socoured, 4–6 soker, 5 socowryn, sokery, socore, sucor, 5–6 succurre, 6 suckar, socker, 7 sucurre), 6– (now U.S.) succor, 5– succour.
[a. OF. (i) socorre, suc(c)urre, secourre:—L. succurrĕre, f. suc- = sub- 26 + currĕre to run; (ii) suc(c)urir (with change of conjugation), mod.F. secourir. Cf. Pr. socorre, secorrer, It. soccorrere, Sp., Pg. socorrer.]
1. trans. To help, assist, aid (a person, etc.).
| c 1250 Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 32 Hit is us nyede þet se þet sucurede hem ine þa peril þet us sucuri ine ure niedes. a 1300 Cursor M. 4608, I red þat þou, onan, Do gett þe a god purueur þat in þis nede þe mai socur. 1340 Ayenb. 186 Wel ssolle we..helpe and soucouri þe on þe oþer. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 172 He þat scholde me socoury to ȝen myn enymys. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 41 He..socrede Thomas of Caunturbury whan he was exiled. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 256 So schal his Soule be socoured Of thilke worschipe ate laste. c 1400 Anturs of Arth. xvii, Were thritte trentes of masse done,..My saule were socurt ful sone, And broȝte un-to blys. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 131 Ther is no gayne may us socoure. 1526 Tindale Heb. ii. 18 He is able to sucker them that are tempted. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 4 Duke Charles..succored them with a small pencion. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Catechism, To loue, honour, and succoure my father and mother. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xix. 97 There is no Favourite of a Monarch, which cannot as well succour his friends, as hurt his enemies. 1718 Prior Solomon ii. 571 We raise the sad, and succour the distress'd. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xix, It would behove me..to succour this distressed lady. 1867 Smiles Huguenots Eng. xi. (1880) 184 The fugitives were everywhere made welcome, and succoured and helped. |
| absol. 1535 Boorde Let. in Introd. Knowl. (1870) 56 God succuryng, who euer kepp yow in helth & honer. |
b. transf.
| 1390 Gower Conf. III. 213 Whan he the comun riht socoureth. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 2276 Thare myghte no siluer thaym saue, ne socoure theire lyues. 1549 Compl. Scot. Ep. 4 That his..entreprise vas conuoyit & succurrit be ane diuyne miracle, rather nor be the ingyne of men. 1578 Lyte Dodoens 473 Garden Smilax hath long and small branches growing very high..when they be succoured with rises or long poles. Ibid. 653 The white Rose, whose stalkes..are..x. xii. or xx. foote high, and sometimes longer, if they be staied vp or suckered. 1599 Shakes., etc. Pass. Pilgr. xiv. 28 Yet not for me, shine sun to succour flowers. |
| absol. a 1850 Rossetti Dante & Circle ii. (1874) 279 Of all that thou or I can say, But one word succoureth. |
2. To furnish with military assistance; to bring reinforcements to; spec. to relieve (a besieged place).
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8233 Folc of ierusalem & of damache come{ddd}& to socouri antioche uaste þuderward drou. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 12778 Sex þousand sent he..To socoure þeym. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2610 Or we mowen bet y-socoured be wiþ Charlis & ys ferede. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8466 All the kynges..þat comyn were to Troy, The citie to socour, with þere sute hoole. 1470–85 Malory Arthur x. i. 413, I will socoure hym with all my puyssaunce. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV, 18 Yf the castel were not suckered within iii monthes. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. xv. 16 b, The place..coulde not haue bin fortified nor succoured. 1613–18 Daniel Coll. Hist. Eng. (1626) 24 [He] brings a mighty Army to succour Arques, assieged by.. the Dukes Generall. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Succour a Place, is to raise the Siege of such a Place, driving the Enemy from before it. 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. (ed. 3) 414/2 To succour,..to relieve a force requiring assistance. |
† 3. To relieve or remedy (a state of want, weakness, etc.); to relieve (a diseased condition). Obs.
| 1526 Tindale Mark ix. 24 Sucker myne vnbelefe. 1526 ― 2 Cor. viii. 14 Let youre aboundaunce socker their lacke. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. iii. 31 To succour the weake state of sad afflicted Troy. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 602 The outward members are forced to yeeld their bloud, to succour any sudden oppression of the heart. c 1645 Milton Sonn., On new Forcers Consc. 18 That so the Parliament May..succour our just Fears. |
| absol. 1657 Tomlinson Renou's Disp. 301 It efficaciously sucurres in pestilentious diseases. |
4. To shelter, protect. Now dial.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. lxxxi. (1495) 653 Greynes ben warded and socoured wyth ryndes..for to saue the inner pyth and kynde hete. 1563 Shute Archit. B j, Some succoured them selues vnder the shadowe of trees. 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. 67 The Haven was commodious to succour weather-beaten ships. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 157 That by these Waters they [sc. sheep] might be housed, harbored, suckered, and nourished. 1893 Wilts. Gloss. s.v., An old-fashioned bonnet is said to ‘succour’ the ears. A cold wind cuts up cabbages, except where they are ‘succoured’ by bushes or walls. |
5. Naut. To strengthen, make firm or taut.
| 1688 Holme Armoury iii. xv. (Roxb.) 44/1 To succour and ease the sheat, least it break in great winds. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey) s.v., Among Sea-men, to Succour is to strengthen or make more firm; as To Succour a Cable, Mast, &c. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 152 Its use is to succour the scarphs of the apron. |
▪ III. succour
obs. form of sugar n.