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"to refer (to)" in seven languages

Meaningto refer (to)

Spanish

referirse

/refeˈɾiɾse/

learned

French

se référer

/sə ʁefeʁe/

learned

In speech, faire référence à is more common.

Italian

riferirsi

/rifeˈrirsi/

learned

Riferire alone means 'to report, tell'.

Portuguese

referir-se

/hefeˈɾihsi/

learned

Romanian

se referi

/se refeˈri/

learned

Catalan

referir-se

/rəfəˈɾirsə/

learned

English

refer

/ɹɪˈfɝ/

from Latin/French · Old French referer, Latin REFERRE

English → Italianto refer (to)riferirsiCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

REFERRE‘to carry back’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Latin FERRE 'to carry' was irregular, so the sisters moved it into their -ir/-er class. All three use the reflexive: to refer to something is 'to refer oneself'.

English relatives: reference, referee, referendum, transfer

Learn it

Practice the Core verbs deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • es¿A qué te refieres?
  • frÀ quoi faites-vous référence ?
  • itA cosa ti riferisci?
  • ptA que você está se referindo?
  • roLa ce te referi?
  • caA què et refereixes?
  • enWhat are you referring to?

More words from the same Latin

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words