recourse

Etymology

From Middle English recours (noun) and recoursen (verb), from Old French recours, from Latin recursus, past participle of recurrō.

noun

1. The act of seeking assistance or advice.
   Thus dyed this great Peer in the thirty sixth year of his age compleat, and three days over, in a time of great recourse unto him, and dependence upon him 1678, Nathaniel Wanley, The Wonders of the Little World
2. (uncountable, recourse to) The use of (someone or something) as a source of help in a difficult situation.
   Nor were the wool prospects much better. The pastoral industry, which had weathered the severe depression of the early forties by recourse to boiling down the sheep for their tallow, and was now firmly re-established as the staple industry of the colony, was threatened once more with eclipse. 1929, M. Barnard Eldershaw, A House is Built, chapter VIII, section ii
   This was done, and in many cases still is done by the main-line railway groups, through the exercise of running powers, which on application to Parliament by the company using them have been granted for the express purpose of affording this access without the necessity for building independent tracks. In other cases, such running powers have been granted without recourse to Parliament, by voluntary agreement between the parties. 1940 May, “The Why and the Wherefore: Running Powers”, in Railway Magazine, page 318
   Careful consideration of every aspect, from car-parking facilities, lay-out of circulating areas, heating and lighting, handling of G.P.O. traffic, signposting, litter facilities, train information, waiting rooms and sanitation, to materials and colour should persuade the most pessimistic individual that, given the will, our most out-dated, inadequate and inconvenient railway stations can be transformed without recourse to complete demolition. 1962 March, Brian Haresnape, “Design in 1961—a Retrospect”, in Modern Railways, page 197
3. (obsolete) A coursing back, or coursing again; renewed course; return; retreat; recurrence.
4. (obsolete) Access; admittance.

verb

1. (obsolete) To return; to recur.
   […] the flame departing and recoursing thrice ere the wood took strength to be sharper to consume […] 1563, John Foxe, “Martyrdom of Thomas Bilney”, in Actes and Monuments
2. (obsolete) To have recourse; to resort.