Other forms: resorts, resorted, resorting
A resort is a place built for holidays, with everything on site. A ski resort, a beach resort, an all-inclusive resort.
The everything on site is the model and the criticism: guests spend little in the surrounding area, which is why some destinations are ambivalent about them. As a verb, to resort to something means to fall back on it, usually reluctantly — a last resort. Note that the French means to go out again.
1nounresortA place built for holidays with everything on site.
“We spent a week at a beach resort with three pools and five restaurants.”
2verbfallTo fall back on something reluctantly.
“When talking didn't work, the police had to resort to force.”
resort is a holiday place, or a recourse.
Old French resortir means to fall back or have recourse, from sortir, to go out. The holiday sense came from a place people went to.
Old French
resortir — to fall back, return, resort, have recourse, appeal
Middle English
resorten
English, today
resort
Built from
From Middle English resorten, from Old French resortir (“to fall back, return, resort, have recourse, appeal”), back-formation from sortir (“to go out”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA