English → Latin
“refuse” in Latin
abnuōto say no, to nod in negation; to refuse, reject; to denyrenuōto nod the head backwards (as a sign of refusal); to deny, oppose, disapprove, reject, decline, refuserecūsōto refuse, decline, reject; to protest, objectrepudiōto cast off, reject, repudiate, disdain, rebuffdēpōnōto lay, set, put or place aside or away; deposit; to resign, get rid of, give up; to wager, stake, betdēprecorto avert or ward off by (earnest) prayer; deprecate; to pray for, intercede on behalf of, beseechdētrectōto refuse, decline, reject or evade; to be reluctant or hesitant; to disparage, belittle, depreciatecontemnōto scorn, despise, show contempt; to disparage, consider a person or thing as unimportant or of small value; to disregarāspernorto cast off, turn away, avert, repel; to cast off, spurn, despise, disdain, scorn; to refuse, reject, declinerespuōto spit or spew out; to reject or refuse
The English word refuse itself goes back to Latin refūsāre, through *refūsāre.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
refuse v.
To decline accepting, abnuere: renuere (PROP., by shaking the head): recusare (to refuse, especially for some reason): repudiare (to disdain, despise, scorn): deponere (to decline): deprecari (to excuse one’s self): detrectare (to endeavor to withdraw from a thing): contemnere, aspernari, respuere (to reject with contempt): fastidire (to refuse haughtily): to refuse an office, munus or provinciam recusare; honores, munus deprecari: to refuse offices in the state, imperia non accipere; honores deprecari: to refuse a wife with a large dowry, uxorem cum grandi dote recusare: to refuse an inheritance, hereditatem repudiare; also, hereditatem adire or cernere nolle (not to enter upon it). To refuse one’s friendship, amicitiam alicujus recusare: to refuse a triumph, triumphum deponere (Liv., 2, 47).
To deny a request, negare aliquid; recusare aliquid or de re (for sufficient reasons): renuere aliquid (by gestures, etc.); also, by nolle with an infinitive (to be unwilling): to refuse a request, petenti alicui aliquid denegare, petenti alicui deesse, preces alicujus repudiare: to refuse in part, subnegare aliquid: to refuse courteously, belle negare: to refuse positively or decidedly, praecise negare; sine ulla exceptione, or plane, praecidere: to refuse to believe anything, alicui rei fidem abrogare (Cic.).
refuse s.
PROP., Shreds, waste, etc., ramentum (from metals, skins, etc.; by filing, or rubbing): scrobis or scrobs (from wood, metals; by sawing, filing, boring): intertrimentum, retrimentum (by melting): recisamentum (chips of wood, etc.).
Figuratively, The worst of anything, offscourivg, purgamentum (e.g., servorum; urbis, Curt., 6, 11, 2, and 2, 10, 7): sentina (qu., the sink; canaille): quisquiliae (qu., the sweepings: all of an entire class of bad or worthless persons): homo ad extremum perditus, homo despicatissimus (a very depraved and most contemptible individual): the refuse of the people, perditissima et faex populi.
refuse adj.
abjectus (worthless): vilis (mean): malus (bad): rejectus, rejiciendus (cast away, or fit only to be cast away, Cic.).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for refuse?
- The usual Latin words for “refuse” are abnuō, renuō, recūsō; also repudiō, dēpōnō, dēprecor. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.