refer

CEFRA2

/ɹɪˈfɜː/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To mention or direct someone to a source or person.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To place in or under by a mental or rational process; to assign to, as a class, a cause, source, a motive, reason, or ground of explanation.

Examples

  • Please refer to the tourist information office.

  • We refer to this city as Little Kyoto.

At a glance

Sits at A2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
3

Also pronounced

  • /ˈɹiːfə/
  • /ˈɹifɚ/

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings
  1. To submit to (another person or group) for consideration; to send or direct elsewhere.

  2. To direct the attention of (someone toward something)

  3. To mention (something); to direct attention (to something)

More examples

In context
  • He referred the matter to the principal.

  • The doctor may refer patients to a psychiatrist.

  • The shop assistant referred me to the help desk on ground floor.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The teacher told the students to blank to the dictionary for the definition of the word.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English referren, from Old French referer, from Latin referre. The noun (used in journalism) is from the verb. Doublet of relate. See also infer, collate and confer, delate and defer, as well as prelate and prefer among others.