Etymology : Middle English referren, from Latin referre to bring back, report, refer, from re- + ferre to carry; more at BEAR
Pronunciation : ri-f&r
Function : verb
Date : 14th century
1. send, direct; ascribe to, relate to; pertain to, apply to; call attention to, allude to. refer\re*fer"\ (r?*f?r"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. referred (-f?rd); p. pr. & vb. n. referring.] [f. référer, l. referre; pref. re- re- + ferre to bear. see:
bear to carry.].
2. to carry or send back. [obs.].
3. hence: to send or direct away; to send or direct elsewhere, as for treatment, aid, infirmation, decision, etc.; to make over, or pass over, to another; as, to refer a student to an author; to refer a beggar to an officer; to refer a bill to a committee; a court refers a matter of fact to a commissioner for investigation, or refers a question of law to a superior tribunal.
4. 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; as, he referred the phenomena to electrical disturbances.
5. To carry or send back.
6. Hence: To send or direct away; to send or direct elsewhere, as for treatment, aid, information, decision, etc.; to make over, or pass over, to another; as, to refer a student to an author; to refer a beggar to an officer; to refer a bill to a committee; a court refers a matter of fact to a commissioner for investigation, or refers a question of law to a superior tribunal.
7. 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; as, he referred the phenomena to electrical disturbances.
8. To have recourse; to apply; to appeal; to betake one's self; as, to refer to a dictionary.
9. To have relation or reference; to relate; to point; as, the figure refers to a footnote.
10. To carry the mind or thought; to direct attention; as, the preacher referred to the late election.
11. To direct inquiry for information or a guarantee of any kind, as in respect to one's integrity, capacity, pecuniary ability, and the like; as, I referred to his employer for the truth of his story. think of, regard, or classify under a subsuming principle or with a general group or in relation to another; "This plant can be referred to a known species" send or direct for treatment, information, or a decision; "refer a patient to a specialist"; "refer a bill to a committee" have to do with or be relevant to; "There were lots of questions referring to her talk"; "My remark pertained to your earlier comments".
12. 1. If you refer to a particular subject or person, you talk about them or mention them. In his speech, he referred to a recent trip to Canada.
13. If you refer to someone or something as a particular thing, you use a particular word, expression, or name to mention or describe them. Marcia had referred to him as a dear friend.
14. If a word refers to a particular thing, situation, or idea, it describes it in some way. The term electronics refers to electrically-induced action.
15. If a person who is ill is referred to a hospital or a specialist, they are sent there by a doctor in order to be treated. Patients are mostly referred to hospital by their general practitioners The patient should be referred for tests immediately.
16. If you refer a task or a problem to a person or an organization, you formally tell them about it, so that they can deal with it. He could refer the matter to the high court.
17. If you refer someone to a person or organization, you send them there for the help they need. Now and then I referred a client to him.
18. If you refer to a book or other source of information, you look at it in order to find something out. He referred briefly to his notebook.
19. If you refer someone to a source of information, you tell them the place where they will find the information which they need or which you think will interest them. Mr Bryan also referred me to a book by the American journalist Anthony Scaduto.