Contents
English
Part or all of this page has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
Etymology
< Middle English < Old French acuser, French accuser < Latin accusare (“‘to call to account, accuse’”) < ad (“‘to’”) + causa (“‘cause, reason, account, lawsuit’”). Compare cause.
Pronunciation
Verb
|
Infinitive to accuse |
Third person singular accuses |
Simple past accused |
Past participle accused |
Present participle accusing |
to accuse (third-person singular simple present accuses, present participle accusing, simple past and past participle accused)
- (transitive) To find fault with, to blame, to censure.
- Epistle to the Romans 2:15,
- Their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.
- Thomas Babington Macaulay,
- We are accused of having persuaded Austria and Sardinia to lay down their arms.
- Epistle to the Romans 2:15,
- (transitive) To charge with having committed a crime or offence.
- For the U.S. President to be impeached, he must be accused of a high crime or misdemeanor.
- Acts of the Apostles 24:13,
- Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me.
Usage notes
- To accuse, charge, impeach, arraign: these words agree in bringing home to a person the imputation of wrongdoing.
- To accuse is a somewhat formal act, and is applied usually (though not exclusively) to crimes; as, to accuse of treason.
- Charge is the most generic. It may refer to a crime, a dereliction of duty, a fault, etc.; more commonly it refers to moral delinquencies; as, to charge with dishonesty or falsehood.
- To arraign is to bring (a person) before a tribunal for trial; as, to arraign one before a court or at the bar public opinion.
- To impeach is officially to charge with misbehavior in office; as, to impeach a minister of high crimes.
- Both impeach and arraign convey the idea of peculiar dignity or impressiveness.
Synonyms
Related terms
Noun
|
Singular accuse |
Plural accuses |
accuse (plural accuses)
- (obsolete) An accusation - Shakespeare
External links
- accuse in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- accuse in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
French
Verb
accuse
- First- and third-person singular indicative present of accuser.
- First- and third-person singular subjunctive present of accuser.
- Ordinary second-person singular imperative present of accuser.
Italian
Noun
accuse f.
- Plural form of accusa.
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Jeffrey Feldman
2009-06-01 16:00:00
Guests on TV and radio shows who routinely . accuse. their debate opponents of supporting or condoning "murder" are invited back time and time again to repeat the accusation. Steeped in this expanding definition of "murder," almost all ...
