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Origin and history of refuse

refuse(v.)

c. 1300, "reject, spurn, decline" a request, demand, invitation, etc.; also intransitive, "to make refusal;" from Old French refuser "reject, disregard, avoid" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *refusare, a frequentative verb from the past-participle stem of Latin refundere "give back, restore, return," literally "pour back, flow back," from re- "back" (see re-) + fundere "to pour" (from nasalized form of PIE root *gheu- "to pour").

The intransitive meaning "refuse to do something" is from late 14c.; that of "fail to comply" is from 1520s (originally of horses); that of "repudiate, disown, disavow" is attested from early 15c. but now is obsolete. Nares reports that God refuse me! was "formerly a fashionable imprecation." Related: Refused; refusing. 

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;

refuse(n.)

mid-14c., "an outcast;" mid-14c., "a rejected thing, waste material, trash," from Old French refus "waste product, rubbish; refusal, denial, rejection," a back-formation from the past participle of refuser "reject, disregard, avoid" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *refusare, frequentative form from past participle stem of Latin refundere "give back, restore, return," literally "pour back, flow back," from re- "back" (see re-) + fundere "to pour" (from nasalized form of PIE root *gheu- "to pour"). As an adjective in English from late 14c., "despised, rejected;" early 15c., "of low quality."

also from mid-14c.

Entries linking to refuse

refusal(n.)

late 15c., refusel, "act of refusing to do something, rejection of anything demanded," from refuse (v.) + -al (2). The sense of "choice of refusing or taking," as in right of first refusal, is by 1570s. The earlier noun was simply refuse (late 14c., from Old French refus), which was common through 16c.

refusenik(n.)

"Soviet Jew who has been refused permission to emigrate to Israel," 1975, a partial translation (with English refuse (v.)) of Russian otkaznik, from otkazat "to refuse." Also see -nik. English agent noun refuser is attested from late 15c.

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defy
c. 1300, defien, "to renounce one's allegiance;" mid-14c., "to challenge to fight, dare to meet in combat;" from Old French defier, desfier "to challenge, defy, provoke; renounce (a belief), repudiate (a vow, etc.)," from Vulgar Latin *disfidare "renounce one's faith" (in Medieva
resist
late 14c., resisten, of persons, "withstand (someone), oppose;" of things, "stop or hinder (a moving body);" from Old French resister "hold out against" (14c.) and directly from Latin resistere "to make a stand against, oppose; to stand back; withstand," from re- "against" (see r
deny
to be untrue or untenable," from Old French denoiir "deny, repudiate, withhold," from Latin denegare "to deny, reject, refuse..." (source of Italian dinegarre, Spanish denegar), from de "away" (see de-) + negare "refuse, say 'no,' " from Old Latin nec...From late 14c. as "refuse, refuse to grant or give," also "refuse to acknowledge, disavow, disown."...Sense of "refuse access to" is from 1660s. Related: Denied; denying....
recuse
late 14c., recusen, "to decline, refuse," especially "reject another's authority or jurisdiction over oneself as prejudiced...," from Old French recuser (13c.) and directly from Latin recusare "make an objection against; decline, refuse, reject; be...
reject
early 15c., rejecten, "eject, set aside, block from inheritance;" late 15c., "refuse to acquiesce or submit to," from Old...The meaning "throw away as undesirable or useless, refuse to take for some purpose" is by 1530s....The sense of "refuse (something offered)" is by 1660s....
offal
late 14c., "waste parts, refuse," especially the waste meat and entrails of a bird or animal used as food, from off (prep..."refuse left after winnowing grain," offcast (late 14c.) "parts of plants normally uneaten."...
decline
late 14c., "to turn aside, deviate" (a sense now archaic), also "sink to a lower level," and, figuratively, "fall to an inferior or impaired condition," from Old French decliner "to sink, decline, degenerate, turn aside," from Latin declinare "to lower; avoid, deviate; bend from,
disobey
late 14c., disobeien, "neglect or refuse to obey," from Old French desobeir (13c.) "disobey; refuse service or homage," from Vulgar Latin *disoboedire, reformed with dis- (see dis-) from Late Latin inobedire, a back-formation from inobediens "not obeying," from Latin in- "not" +
sister
mid-13c., suster, "female sibling, a female person in her relation to other children of the same parents," from Old English sweostor, swuster, Northumbrian soester "sister," or a Scandinavian cognate (Old Norse systir, Swedish syster, Danish søster), in any case from Proto-German

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