Forced someone or something back or away; or caused someone to feel disgust and want to avoid something.
From Latin 'repellere' (re- meaning 'back' + pellere meaning 'to drive or push'). The physical meaning came first (driving back in battle), then evolved to mean emotionally pushing away by causing disgust.
The same word describes both a magnet pushing away another magnet and your stomach rejecting spoiled food—language uses the same word for physical and emotional rejection!
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