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ref

Etymology and origin of the English word ref

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Clipping
First attested
1890

Pronunciation

Etymology

It is a clipping of referee.[2][3][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A referee: 1890 in Merriam-Webster, 1899 in Etymonline and the OED.[3][2][4]

Semantic evolution

The verb, to act as referee, is from 1929.[2][4]

Timeline

  • 1890 – a referee.[3]
  • 1929 – to ref (verb).[2][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (informal) A referee.

Verb

  1. (informal) To referee a game or match.

Usage notes

Ref is also short for reference (1901),[4][6] and an obsolete Scots ref was a variant of reif, plunder.[4]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Ref.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/ref. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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