refer

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Referred p. pr. & vb. n. Referring. ] [ F. référer, L. referre; pref. re- re- + ferre to bear. See Bear to carry. ] 1. To carry or send back. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: To send or direct away; to send or direct elsewhere, as for treatment, aid, information, decision, etc.; to make over, or pass over, to another; as, to refer a student to an author; to refer a beggar to an officer; to refer a bill to a committee; a court refers a matter of fact to a commissioner for investigation, or refers a question of law to a superior tribunal. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To place in or under by a mental or rational process; to assign to, as a class, a cause, source, a motive, reason, or ground of explanation; as, he referred the phenomena to electrical disturbances. [ 1913 Webster ]

To refer one's self, to have recourse; to betake one's self; to make application; to appeal. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I'll refer me to all things sense. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being referred, or considered in relation to something else; assignable; ascribable. [ Written also referrible. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

It is a question among philosophers, whether all the attractions which obtain between bodies are referable to one general cause. W. Nicholson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One to whom a thing is referred; a person to whom a matter in dispute has been referred, in order that he may settle it. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Judge; arbitrator; umpire. See Judge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Refer. ] 1. The act of referring, or the state of being referred; as, reference to a chart for guidance. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which refers to something; a specific direction of the attention; as, a reference in a text-book. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Relation; regard; respect. [ 1913 Webster ]

Something that hath a reference to my state. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. One who, or that which, is referred to. Specifically; (a) One of whom inquires can be made as to the integrity, capacity, and the like, of another. (b) A work, or a passage in a work, to which one is referred. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Law) (a) The act of submitting a matter in dispute to the judgment of one or more persons for decision. (b) (Equity) The process of sending any matter, for inquiry in a cause, to a master or other officer, in order that he may ascertain facts and report to the court. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Appeal. [ R. ] “Make your full reference.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Reference Bible, a Bible in which brief explanations, and references to parallel passages, are printed in the margin of the text. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. referendarius, fr. L. referendus to be referred, gerundive of referre: cf. F. référendaire. See Refer. ] 1. One to whose decision a cause is referred; a referee. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An officer who delivered the royal answer to petitions. “Referendaries, or masters of request.” Harmar. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Formerly, an officer of state charged with the duty of procuring and dispatching diplomas and decrees. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. -da /plu> [ Gerundive fr. L. referre. See Refer. ] 1. A diplomatic agent's note asking for instructions from his government concerning a particular matter or point. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The right to approve or reject by popular vote a meassure passed upon by a legislature. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The principle or practice of referring measures passed upon by the legislative body to the body of voters, or electorate, for approval or rejection, as in the Swiss cantons (except Freiburg) and in various local governments in the United States, and also in the local option laws, etc.; also, the right to so approve or reject laws, or the vote by which this is done. Referendum is distinguished from the mandate, or instruction of representatives by the people, from direct government by the people, in which they initiate and make the laws by direct action without representation, and from a plebiscite, or popular vote taken on any measure proposed by a person or body having the initiative but not constituting a representative or constituent body. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Containing a reference; pointing to something out of itself; as, notes for referential use. -- Ref`er*en"tial*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. The act of referring; reference. Laud. [ 1913 Webster ]