refuser

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *wre-

Latin re-

Old French re-bor.

Middle English re-

English re-

English fuse

English refuse

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-os?

Proto-Indo-European *-o-

Proto-Indo-European *-so-

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂so-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *-yós

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂s(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-āsijos

Proto-Italic *-āsios

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -āriusbor.

Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz

Proto-West Germanic *-ārī

Old English -ere

Middle English -ere

▲

Latin -ārius

Old French -ierbor.

Middle English -er

English -er

English refuser

From refuse + -er.

Noun

refuser (plural refusers)

1. One who refuses.

   Synonym: refusenik

   Near-synonyms: recusant, defier, decliner, objector, protester, dissenter, iconoclast, maverick, nonconformist, rebel, renegade

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French refuser, from Vulgar Latin *refūsāre, either from a blend of Latin refūtāre and recūsāre or from Latin refūsus, the perfect passive participle of refundere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.fy.ze/

• Audio:

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• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

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• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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Verb

refuser

1. to refuse

   Antonym: accepter

Conjugation

Conjugation of refuser (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	refuser
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	refusant /ʁə.fy.zɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		refusé /ʁə.fy.ze/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	refuse /ʁə.fyz/	refuses /ʁə.fyz/	refuse /ʁə.fyz/	refusons /ʁə.fy.zɔ̃/	refusez /ʁə.fy.ze/	refusent /ʁə.fyz/
	imperfect	refusais /ʁə.fy.zɛ/	refusais /ʁə.fy.zɛ/	refusait /ʁə.fy.zɛ/	refusions /ʁə.fy.zjɔ̃/	refusiez /ʁə.fy.zje/	refusaient /ʁə.fy.zɛ/
	past historic2	refusai /ʁə.fy.ze/	refusas /ʁə.fy.za/	refusa /ʁə.fy.za/	refusâmes /ʁə.fy.zam/	refusâtes /ʁə.fy.zat/	refusèrent /ʁə.fy.zɛʁ/
	future	refuserai /ʁə.fyz.ʁe/	refuseras /ʁə.fyz.ʁa/	refusera /ʁə.fyz.ʁa/	refuserons /ʁə.fyz.ʁɔ̃/	refuserez /ʁə.fyz.ʁe/	refuseront /ʁə.fyz.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	refuserais /ʁə.fyz.ʁɛ/	refuserais /ʁə.fyz.ʁɛ/	refuserait /ʁə.fyz.ʁɛ/	refuserions /ʁə.fy.zə.ʁjɔ̃/	refuseriez /ʁə.fy.zə.ʁje/	refuseraient /ʁə.fyz.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	refuse /ʁə.fyz/	refuses /ʁə.fyz/	refuse /ʁə.fyz/	refusions /ʁə.fy.zjɔ̃/	refusiez /ʁə.fy.zje/	refusent /ʁə.fyz/
	imperfect2	refusasse /ʁə.fy.zas/	refusasses /ʁə.fy.zas/	refusât /ʁə.fy.za/	refusassions /ʁə.fy.za.sjɔ̃/	refusassiez /ʁə.fy.za.sje/	refusassent /ʁə.fy.zas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	refuse /ʁə.fyz/	—	refusons /ʁə.fy.zɔ̃/	refusez /ʁə.fy.ze/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• Salon des Refusés

Related terms

• refus

Descendants

• Haitian Creole: refize
• → Albanian: refuzoj
• → Romanian: refuza

Further reading

• “refuser”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Old French

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *refūsāre.

Verb

refuser

1. to refuse

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ss, *-st are modified to s, st. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of refuser (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		refuser			avoir refusé
gerund		en refusant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		refusant
past participle		refusé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	refus	refuses	refuse	refusons	refusez	refusent
	imperfect	refusoie, refuseie, refusoe, refuseve	refusoies, refuseies, refusoes, refuseves	refusoit, refuseit, refusot, refuseve	refusiiens, refusiens	refusiiez, refusiez	refusoient, refuseient, refusoent, refusevent
	preterite	refusai	refusas	refusa	refusames	refusastes	refuserent
	future	refuserai	refuseras	refusera	refuserons	refuseroiz, refusereiz, refuserez	refuseront
	conditional	refuseroie, refusereie	refuseroies, refusereies	refuseroit, refusereit	refuseriiens, refuseriens	refuseriiez, refuseriez	refuseroient, refusereient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	refus	refus	refust	refusons	refusez	refusent
	imperfect	refusasse	refusasses	refusast	refusissons, refusissiens	refusissoiz, refusissez, refusissiez	refusassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	refuse	—	refusons	refusez	—

Descendants

• French: refuser (see there for further descendants)
• Norman: r'fuser (Jersey)
• → English: refuse