reject

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɹiːd͡ʒɛkt/; /ɹɪˈd͡ʒɛkt/ (UK); /ɹɪˈd͡ʒɛkt/, /ɹə-/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English rejecten, from Old French rejecter and directly borrowed from Latin rēiectus, past participle of rēicere, to throw back,^[2][3][4] or of its frequentative rēiectāre, to cast away, vomit,^[2] from re-, back, and -icere, the combining form of iacere, to throw (see jet),^[3][2][5] from Proto-Indo-European *ye-, to throw, impel.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To cast out, dismiss, set aside, block from inheritance: about 1415 in Barnhart, the early 15th century in Etymonline.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

To refuse to recognize, submit to or adopt is from 1426 (the late 15th century in Etymonline).^[3][2] To throw away as undesirable or useless is a further sense, especially of a woman refusing a man as lover or husband (1580s),^[2] and to refuse something offered is by the 1660s.^[2] The medical sense, to show an immune response to a transplanted organ, is from 1953.^[2] The noun meant a refusal (1464) and a castaway (before 1555), both obsolete;^[3][6][2] a thing cast aside as unsatisfactory is from 1893,^[6][2] and a person thought worthless from 1925, from military use for men unfit for service.^[2][6] Rejection is from before 1464.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1415 – to cast out.^[3]
• 1426 – to refuse to recognize.^[3]
• before 1464 – rejection.^[3]
• 1580s – to refuse a suitor.^[2]
• 1893 – a thing rejected (noun).^[6]
• 1953 – to reject a transplant.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To refuse to accept, believe, consider or use.
2. To refuse to grant; to deny.
3. To rebuff someone, or refuse them affection.
4. To discard as defective or useless.
5. Of the body, to fail to accept a transplanted organ or tissue.

Noun

1. A person or thing rejected as unsatisfactory.

Word family

• rejecter
• rejective
• rejectingly
• rejectable
• rejectee
• rejection
• rejectionist

Related words

• eject
• inject
• project
• object
• jet

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press