accuse
pronunciation
How to pronounce accuse in British English:
UK [əˈkjuːz]
How to pronounce accuse in American English:
US [ əˈkjuːz]
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- Verb:
- bring an accusation against; level a charge against
- blame for, make a claim of wrongdoing or misbehavior against
Word Origin
- accuse
- accuse: [13] Accuse comes via Old French acuser from the Latin verb accūsāre, which was based on the noun causa ‘cause’ – but cause in the sense not of ‘something that produces a result’, but of ‘legal action’ (a meaning preserved in English cause list, for instance). Hence accūsāre was to ‘call someone to account for their actions’.The grammatical term accusative [15] (denoting the case of the object of a verb in Latin and other languages) is derived ultimately from accūsāre, but it arose originally owing to a mistranslation. The Greek term for this case was ptósis aitiātiké ‘case denoting causation’ – a reasonable description of the function of the accusative. Unfortunately the Greek verb aitiásthai also meant ‘accuse’, and it was this sense that Latin grammarians chose to render when adopting the term.=> cause, excuse
- accuse (v.)
- c. 1300, "charge (with an offense, etc.), impugn, blame," from Old French acuser "to accuse, indict, reproach, blame" (13c.), earlier "announce, report, disclose" (12c.), or directly from Latin accusare "to call to account," from ad- "against" (see ad-) + causari "give as a cause or motive," from causa "reason" (see cause (n.)). Related: Accused; accusing; accusingly.
Antonym
Example
- 1. No one would accuse the eurozone of competitive devaluation .
- 2. I often hear them accuse israel of judaizing jerusalem .
- 3. Some westerners accuse them of racism .
- 4. It is tempting to accuse those doing the governing .
- 5. Pundits accuse mr christie of skimping on policy details .