Other forms: incurred, incurring, incurs
To incur is to bring costs, debts or anger upon yourself. Incur costs, incur a penalty, incur their displeasure.
What follows is always unwelcome — you incur debts and penalties, never benefits — and the bringing on yourself is what the word carries. It is formal and belongs to finance and to contracts. Note incurred, which is the past; and that the Latin means to run into, from currere — the same running as in current and courier.
1verbincurTo bring costs, debts or anger upon yourself.
“If you cancel less than a day before, you will incur a charge.”
incur is a bringing upon yourself.
Latin incurrere is in plus currere, to run. Current, courier, occur and excursion come from the same running.
Proto-Indo-European
*ḱers-
Latin
incurrere
Old French
encorre
Middle French
encourir
Anglo-Norman
encurir
Middle English
incurren
English, today
incur
From Middle English incurren, from Anglo-Norman encurir, Middle French encourir, from Old French encorre, from Latin incurrere.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA