refusal

/ɹəˈfjuːzəl/ruh-FYOO-zuhl

/ɹəˈfjuzəl/ruh-FYOO-zuhl

Meaningthe act of saying no

Common meaning: a no

refusto refuseSkeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), p. 498 · scan
aladjective ending: relating to

Journey through time

Latinrefutaresource
Frenchrefusersource
Middle Englishrefusensource
Englishrefuse‘to say no’
Englishformed in English from refuserefusal‘a no’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from refuse + -al.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), PROPOSE, p.471 · scan

Source words

refutare Latin · source word “to refuse”

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