refuser French · revision 17300

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=late 11th century, Laws of William|origins=la recūsō, la refūtō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʁə.fy.ze/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''refuser'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French also [[m|fro|rehuser]] (late 12th century).^(DHLF 1992)

+ Anglo-Norman also ''reffuser'', ''refusier''.^(AND)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la-vul|*refūsō|t=to reject]], usually explained as a blend of [[m|la|recūsō|t=to refuse]] (compare [[récuser]]) and [[m|la|refūtō|t=to repel; to refute]], which in Late Latin had also taken the sense “to refuse”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|10, 198b) Rey thinks less satisfactory a derivation from [[m|la|refūsus]], past participle of [[m|la|refundō|t=to pour back; to drive back]].^(DHLF 1992) Littré, citing Diez, calls the blend ingenious but not quite certain.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ [[es|rehusar]] goes back to the same type; [[it|rifiutare]] continues “refūtāre”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Littré's earliest quotation, from the Laws of William (late 11th century), has ''qui dreite lei et dreit jugement refusera'', “whoever refuses right law and right judgement”; the first sense is “to reject”.^(Littré 1873)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 12th century it meant not to accept what is offered and not to grant what is asked (Wace, 1160–74), to turn down a suitor (''Eneas'', about 1160) and to deny mercy (Chrétien de Troyes, 1176–81).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The construction ''refuser à'' with an infinitive (about 1120) was usual in classical French and was replaced by ''refuser de''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) ''Refuser le combat'' dates from about 1260.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''Se refuser à'' “not to lend oneself to” is in Molière (1666), and ''se refuser quelque chose'' “to deny oneself” in Bossuet (1670), whence ironic ''il ne se refuse rien''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Sailors say that the wind ''refuse'' when it turns contrary (1718); a horse refuses an obstacle; a pile ''refuse'' when it can be driven no further (1870).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 11th century – ''Refuser'' in the Laws of William.^(Littré 1873)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * c. 1120 – ''Refuser a'' with an infinitive, Oxford Psalter.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1160 – Turning down suitors, ''Eneas''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1260 – ''Refuser le combat''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1666 – ''Se refuser à'', Molière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1718 – Of the wind, in the Académie dictionary.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|refuse]], decline (what is offered): ''refuser une offre, un cadeau''.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+ # Not to grant (what is asked): ''refuser une permission'', ''refuser sa porte à quelqu'un''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Refuser de'': to refuse to: ''il refuse de partir''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To turn down (a person): to reject a candidate, a suitor; to fail (a candidate).^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Se refuser à'': to refuse to agree to, ''ne rien se refuser'': to deny oneself nothing.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(nautical)'' (of the wind) To become [[m|en|contrary]], (riding) (of a horse) to balk at an obstacle.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[refus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[récuser]]

+ * [[réfuter]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}