# refero
## Latin
### Etymology

From re- +‎ ferō (“bear, carry”).

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈre.fe.roː/, [ˈrɛfɛroː]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈre.fe.ro/, [ˈrɛːfero]

### Verb

referō (present infinitive referre, perfect active rettulī, supine relātum); third conjugation, suppletive
* to bear, bring, drive, or carry back, off, or away
    Synonym: reveho
** 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.93-95:“Ēgregiam vērō laudem et spolia ampla refertis tūque puerque tuus, magnum et memorābile nūmen, ūna dolō dīvom sī fēmina victa duōrum est!”“[Such] praiseworthy honor, indeed! And splendid the spoils you [both] bring back — you and your boy, [Cupid] — so great and glorious the divine might, the guile of two gods having vanquished one woman!” (Juno mocks Venus after Dido has fallen in love.)
* to give back, give up, return, restore, pay back, repay, pay in return, show one's gratitude
* (of sound) to bring back, return, answer, echo, resound
* to bring back, restore, renew, revive, repeat
* to say in return, respond, reply, answer, represent
    Synonyms: respondeo, occurro
** 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.333:Tandem pauca refert: [...].At last [Aeneas] briefly replies: [...].
* to call to mind, recall, think over, call back to memory, repeat one's self
    Synonyms: memorō, admoneō, moneō, retineō, meminī, redūcō
    Antonyms: oblīvīscor, oblitterō
** 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 2.104:liceat sūmpta pauca referre lyraLet me take up my lyre to recall a few [notes].
* to reconsider
* to refer to, assign to, give credit for
* to judge by, measure according to a certain standard
* to restore, renew, revive, repeat
    Synonyms: iterō, integrō, redintegrō, renovō, novō, reficiō, reparō
* (news or message) relate, recount, tell, say
    Synonyms: oro, alloquor, loquor, for, aio, alloquor, loquor, colloquor
* (matter of import, to the senate) to bring before, refer to
    Synonym: propono
* (name or item in a list) to include, enter
* to make known officially, report, deliver, transmit, announce, notify, proclaim, register, record
    Synonyms: dēnūntiō, adnuntio, nuntio, indico, renūntiō, nū̆ncupō, profiteor, dēferō, prōdō, ēdīcō, praedicō, cōntiōnor
* (passive) to retreat, go back, withdraw, return
    Synonyms: facessō, dēcēdō, discēdō, cēdō, dēficiō, concēdō, excēdō, regredior, abscēdō, subtrahō, subdūcō, inclīnō, recēdō, āmoveō, recipiō, vertō
    Antonyms: prōgredior, prōdeō, prōcēdō, prōficiō, aggredior, ēvehō, incēdō, accēdō, adeō
** 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita I.14:pedes quoque referret gradumThe infantry also retreated from his position
* to tell, recount, narrate
    Synonyms: ferō, prōdō, pandō, trādō, dicitur

#### Usage notes

* The forms "rettul..." are also found as "retul...".

#### Derived terms

* pedem referre
* relātiō
* relātīvus
* relātor
* relātōria
* relātus

#### Related terms

* adferō, afferō
* auferō
* circumferō
* cōnferō
* dēferō
* differō
* efferō
* ferō
* īnferō
* interferō
* intrōferō
* offerō
* perferō
* postferō
* praeferō
* praeterferor
* prōferō
* sufferō
* trānsferō

#### Descendants

* >? Proto-Albanian: *refenj-
** Albanian: rrëfej
* → Catalan: referir, relatar
* → Dutch: refereren, relateren
* → English: refer, relate
* → French: référer, relater
* → German: referieren
* → Italian: riferire
* → Portuguese: referir, relatar
* → Spanish: referir, relatar
* → Swedish: relatera

### References

* “refero”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “refero”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
* refero in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
* refero in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2025), Dizionario Latino, Olivetti Media Communication
* Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co. to retreat step by step: gradum sensim referre to consider one's own advantage in everything: omnia ad suam utilitatem referre to show gratitude (in one's acts): gratiam alicui referre (meritam, debitam) pro aliqua re to return like for like: par pari referre to reward amply; to give manifold recompense for: bonam (praeclaram) gratiam referre the book is attributed to an unknown writer: liber refertur ad nescio quem auctorem to enter a thing in one's note-book: aliquid in commentarios suos referre (Tusc. 3. 22. 54) to make virtue the standard in every thought and act: omnia consilia et facta ad virtutem referre (Phil. 10. 10. 20) to measure something by the standard of something else; to make something one's criterion: dirigere or referre aliquid ad aliquam rem to deify a person: aliquem in deorum numerum referre, reponere to consider as a god: aliquem in deorum numero referre to book a debt: nomina facere or in tabulas referre to put down to a man's credit: alicui acceptum referre aliquid (Verr. 2. 70. 170) to retire into private life: in otium se referre (Fam. 99) to consider a thing from a political point of view: ad rei publicae rationes aliquid referre to record in the official tablets (Annales maximi): in album referre (De Or. 2. 12. 52) to place a person's name on the list of the proscribed: in proscriptorum numerum referre aliquem (Rosc. Am. 11. 32) to bring a question before the senate (of the presiding magistrate): ad senatum referre (Cic. Dom. 53. 136) to enter a thing in the public records: in tabulas publicas referre aliquid to put some one on the list of the accused: referre in reos aliquem to retire (without turning one's back on the enemy): pedem referre to gain a victory, win a battle: victoriam ferre, referre
* Frederic M. Wheelock and Richard A. LaFleur (2000), Wheelock's Latin (6th edition), HarperCollins: New York, →ISBN