Return, revert, recur, recrudesce are comparable when they mean to go or come back (as to a person or to a place or condition).
The same distinctions in implications and connotations are evident in their corresponding nouns return, reversion, recurrence, recrudescence.
Return is the ordinary term of this group; it usually implies either a going back to a starting place or a source or it may imply, especially in the case of the noun, a coming back to a former or proper place or condition.
Revert and reversion (see also REVERSION 2 ) most frequently imply a going back to a previous, often a lower, state or condition.
Both terms, however, are often used when a return after an interruption is implied (as to a previous owner, to a previous topic, or to a previous decision).
Recur and recurrence imply a return, or sometimes repeated returns at more or less regular intervals, of something that has previously happened, that has previously affected a person or thing, that has previously been in one’s mind, or that has been previously known or experienced.
Recrudesce and the more frequent recrudescence imply a return to life or activity; usually the terms imply a breaking out again of something that has been repressed, suppressed, or kept under control.