# refer

Pronunciation: say "ri-FUR" US /ɹɪˈfɝ/, UK /ɹɪˈfɜː/

## Verb

1. To mention something or direct attention toward it.
   - Simple: To mention something, or to point attention toward it.
   - _In her speech she referred to several recent studies._
   - _Speakers often refer to shared experiences to build rapport._
2. Of a word or phrase: to mean or stand for something or someone.
   - Simple: If a word refers to something, it means that thing or is used for it.
   - _In this manual, 'device' refers to any connected machine._
   - _Technical terms often refer to very precise ideas._
3. To make reference to something, to be about it, or to relate to it.
   - Simple: To be about something, or to have a link to it.
   - _Clause four refers to disputes between tenants and landlords._
   - _The footnotes refer to events described earlier in the book._
4. To send something or someone to another person or group for a decision or further action.
   - Simple: To send a problem or person to someone else to handle or decide.
   - _The committee referred the proposal to a subcommittee for review._
   - _Family doctors refer patients to hospitals when more tests are needed._
5. To turn to a book, notes, or another source and look in it for information; used with to.
   - Simple: To look in a book, notes, or other place to find out something you need, used with to.
   - _Pilots refer to a checklist before every takeoff, however many flights they have made._
   - _Without referring to the manual once, he rebuilt the engine from memory._
6. To direct someone's attention toward a particular thing or place.
   - Simple: To point someone toward something so they look at or notice it.
   - _The guide referred visitors to the map near the entrance._
   - _I'll refer you to the section that explains the process._
7. To point to a specific location in computer memory or to a particular object.
   - Simple: To point to a place in a computer's memory or to a stored thing.
   - _The pointer refers to the first element of the array._
   - _When two variables refer to the same object, changing one affects the other._
8. To assign something to a class, cause, or source as an explanation.
   - Simple: To say that something belongs to a certain group, or comes from a certain cause.
   - _Historians refer the manuscript to the early fourteenth century._
   - _After comparing the teeth, the team referred the fossil jaw to an extinct species of early horse._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A short front-page blurb that points readers to a full story inside the issue, giving its headline and page number.
- (verb) To require a student to take an examination again after failing it.

## Origin

From Middle English "referren", from Old French "referer", from Latin "referre". It is a doublet of "relate", and is related to words like "infer", "confer", "defer", and "prefer".

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/refer (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).