refuse English · revision 5580

+ {{homograph|1|decline}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=la refundere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /rɪˈfjuːz/, /rəˈfjuːz/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb is [[inh|enm|refusen]], [[bor|fro|refuser|t=to reject, avoid]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la-vul|*refūsāre]], a frequentative from the past participle of [[m|la|refundere|t=to pour back, give back]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|re-|t=back]] and [[m|la|fundere|t=to pour]].^(Etymonline) Hoad, NODE and the SOED see instead an alteration of [[m|la|recūsāre|t=to refuse]] under the influence of refūtāre “to refute”, and Barnhart allows a confusion with refūtāre.^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002)^(Barnhart 1988) See [[refund]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To reject or decline: before 1300 in Kyng Alisaunder according to Barnhart, about 1300 in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The intransitive “refuse to do something” is from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) Hoad records an obsolete sense “to avoid” and “to renounce” in the 14th century.^(Hoad 1986) To repudiate or disown is from the early 15th century but now obsolete, as in Juliet's “Deny thy father and refuse thy name”;^(Etymonline) ''God refuse me!'' was once a fashionable oath.^(Etymonline) To decline to grant is from the 16th century,^(Hoad 1986) and of a horse, to fail to jump, from the 1520s.^(Etymonline) ''Refusal'' is from 1474.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – to reject.^(Etymonline)

+ * late 14th century – to refuse to do something.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1474 – ''refusal''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1520s – of a horse.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To say that one will not do something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To not [[accept]] something offered.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To not give or allow something to someone: ''refuse permission''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of a horse, to stop instead of jumping a fence.^(AHD)

+

+ {{homograph|2|rubbish}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1338}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈref.juːs/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The noun is Middle English refous, [[bor|fro|refus|t=waste, rubbish; refusal]], from the verb refuser (see the first word).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Hoad and the SOED suggest Old French refusé, the past participle.^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) The adjective may be from Old French refuse, perhaps confused with refus “refugee, refuge”.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An outcast: before 1338, in Mannyng's Chronicle, in Barnhart, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Waste or rubbish is from the mid-14th century in Etymonline and about 1390 in Barnhart;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the OED's first quotation is from about 1440.^(OED 1989) The worthless part of a class of people, the dregs, is from 1603.^(OED 1989) The adjective, despised or rejected, is from about 1385, in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and thrown aside as worthless from 1425.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1338 – an outcast.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1385 – the adjective, rejected.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1390 – waste, rubbish.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1603 – the dregs of society.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Things thrown away as worthless; [[rubbish]] or [[garbage]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Thrown away as worthless.^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[refusal]]

+ * [[refute]]

+ * [[refund]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}