Past tense of refuse; declined to accept, do, or allow something. Rejected an offer, request, or demand.
From Old French 'refuser,' possibly from Latin 'refusus' (poured back). The sense evolved from physically pouring back or returning something to metaphorically rejecting or declining.
The word 'refuse' creates an interesting linguistic coincidence - we have 'refuse' (ri-FYOOZ) meaning to decline, and 'refuse' (REF-yoos) meaning garbage or waste. Though spelled the same, they come from completely different Latin roots and represent opposite concepts of rejection and discarded matter.
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