Skip to content

"to refuse (turn down)" in seven languages

Meaningto refuse (turn down)

Spanish

rechazar

/retʃaˈθaɾ/

other source · Old French rechacier 'to drive back'

The cognate rehusar exists but is formal; to refuse to do something is negarse a.

French

refuser

/ʁəfyze/

inherited

Italian

rifiutare

/rifjuˈtare/

other source · Latin REFŪTĀRE 'to rebut'

Portuguese

recusar

/hekuˈzah/

other source · Latin RECŪSĀRE 'to object, refuse'

Romanian

refuza

/refuˈza/

borrowed · French refuser

Catalan

refusar

/rəfuˈza/

inherited

Rebutjar is just as common.

English

refuse

/ɹɪˈfjuz/

from Latin/French · Old French refuser

English → Italianto refuse (turn down)rifiutareNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: refute, recuse.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

*REFŪSĀRE‘to refuse (a blend of REFŪTĀRE and RECŪSĀRE)’

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

The story

French refuser goes back to a spoken-Latin blend of REFŪTĀRE 'to rebut' and RECŪSĀRE 'to object'; Italian rifiutare comes from REFŪTĀRE itself, English refute's source. Spanish rechazar was borrowed from Old French 'to chase back'.

English relatives: refute, recuse

Learn it

Practice the Core verbs deckQuiz a friend on it

In a sentence

  • esRechazó la oferta.
  • frElle a refusé l'offre.
  • itHa rifiutato l'offerta.
  • ptEla recusou a oferta.
  • roA refuzat oferta.
  • caVa refusar l'oferta.
  • enShe refused the offer.

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words