Recurrent means happening or appearing several times, not just once. A recurrent problem keeps turning up. Recurrent dreams visit you again and again. In medicine, recurrent pain or a recurrent infection comes back after it seemed to go. The word is a little formal and is common in reports and clinics. Recurring is a close cousin, and in everyday English you can often use either; recurrent sounds a bit more ‘set in a pattern,’ especially in medical talk. It does not mean the thing happens every minute. The gaps can be weeks or years. It only says this is not the first time.