refer

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive), Verb (intransitive), Adjective
• COUNT in NET: 2 in 2 verses (in NT : 2 in 2 verses)

CIDE DICTIONARY

refer, v. t. [F. référer, L. referre; pref. re- re- + ferre to bear. See Bear to carry.].

•  To carry or send back.  Chaucer.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "I'll refer me to all things sense."  [1913 Webster]

To refer one's self, to have recourse; to betake one's self; to make application; to appeal. [Obs.]

refer, v. i. 

•  To have recourse; to apply; to appeal; to betake one's self; as, to refer to a dictionary.  [1913 Webster]

  "In suits . . . it is to refer to some friend of trust."  [1913 Webster]
•  To have relation or reference; to relate; to point; as, the figure refers to a footnote.  [1913 Webster]

  "Of those places that refer to the shutting and opening the abyss, I take notice of that in Job."  [1913 Webster]
•  To carry the mind or thought; to direct attention; as, the preacher referred to the late election.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "Now to the universal whole advert:
  The earth regard as of that whole a part."  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- To allude; advert; suggest; appeal.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

refer, v. (referred, referring) (usu. foll. by to)
1 tr. trace or ascribe (to a person or thing as a cause or source) (referred their success to their popularity).
2 tr. consider as belonging (to a certain date or place or class).
3 tr. send on or direct (a person, or a question for decision) (the matter was referred to arbitration; referred him to her previous answer).
4 intr. make an appeal or have recourse to (some authority or source of information) (referred to his notes).
5 tr. send (a person) to a medical specialist etc.
6 tr. (foll. by back to) send (a proposal etc.) back to (a lower body, court, etc.).
7 intr. (foll. by to) (of a person speaking) make an allusion or direct the hearer's attention (decided not to refer to our other problems).
8 intr. (foll. by to) (of a statement etc.) have a particular relation; be directed (this paragraph refers to the events of last year).
9 tr. (foll. by to) interpret (a statement) as being directed to (a particular context etc.).
10 tr. fail (a candidate in an examination).

Idiom

referred pain pain felt in a part of the body other than its actual source. refer to drawer a banker's note suspending payment of a cheque.

Derivative

referable adj. referrer n.

Etymology

ME f. OF referer f. L referre carry back (as RE-, ferre bring)

THESAURUS

refer

account for, accredit, accredit with, accrete to, acknowledge, address to, advert, advert to, advise, advise with, affect, allude, allude to, answer to, appeal to, appertain to, apply, apply to, argue, ascribe to, ask, assign, assign to, attach to, attribute, attribute to, bargain, be construed as, be taken as, bear on, bear upon, belong to, bespeak, betoken, blame, blame for, blame on, blurt, blurt out, breathe, bring home to, bring into play, bring to attention, bring to notice, bring up, call attention to, call in, charge, charge on, charge to, check, cite, collogue, comment, commit, commune, compare notes, concern, confer, confer with, confess, connect, connect with, connote, consult, consult with, convert to use, correspond to, counsel, credit, credit with, cross-refer, cross-reference, deal with, deliberate, denominate, denote, designate, direct, direct attention to, direct to, discuss, discuss with, emblematize, enlist into service, exchange observations, exchange views, exclaim, fall back upon, fasten upon, father upon, figure, finger, fix on, fix upon, focus on, glance, go, hand in, hand over, hang on, have connection with, have conversations, have recourse to, hold conference, imply, import, impress, impute, impute to, indicate, inquire of, insert, instance, interest, interject, interpolate, introduce, invoke, involve, lay, lay to, let drop, let fall, liaise with, link with, look at, look to, make a cross-reference, make reference to, mean, mention, muse, name, negotiate, note, observe, opine, palaver, parley, pass on, pass over, pertain to, pick out, pin on, pinpoint, place upon, point at, point out, point to, powwow, put heads together, put in requisition, quote, reason with, recur, recur to, refer to, reference, reflect, regard, relate to, remark, repair, resort to, respect, revert to, run, saddle on, saddle with, say, select, send, set down to, settle upon, signify, sit down together, sit down with, speak, specify, spell, stand for, stigmatize, study, suggest, symbol, symbolize, take counsel, take note of, take to, take up with, talk over, talk to, tie in with, touch, touch on, touch upon, treat of, turn, turn to, turn to use, typify, use