Incur
/ɪnˈkɜːr/noun
To become subject to something undesirable, such as a penalty, cost, or risk.
Did you know?Its Latin ancestor, *incurrere*, meant “to run into” or “attack,” so the modern legal and financial sense still carries the ghost of collision and danger.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kers-
“to run”
Latin
Latin
currere
“to run”
Latin
Latin
incurrere
“to run into, rush at, attack”
Old French
Old French
encourir
“to incur, expose oneself to”
Middle English
English
incuren
“to incur, bring upon oneself”
Modern English
English
incur
“to become liable to or subject to something”