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accuse - 6 dictionary results

ac⋅cuse

  [uh-kyooz] verb, -cused, -cus⋅ing.
Use accuse in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to charge with the fault, offense, or crime (usually fol. by of): He accused him of murder.
2. to find fault with; blame.
–verb (used without object)
3. to make an accusation.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME ac(c)usen < OF acuser < L accūsāre to call to account (ac- ac- + -cūs-, comb. form of caus-; see cause )

Related forms:
ac⋅cus⋅a⋅ble, adjective
ac⋅cus⋅a⋅bly, adverb
ac⋅cus⋅ant, noun
ac⋅cus⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. arraign, indict; incriminate, impeach.

Antonyms:
1, 2. exonerate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To accuse
ac·cuse   (ə-kyōōz')   
v.   ac·cused, ac·cus·ing, ac·cus·es

v.   tr.
  1. To charge with a shortcoming or error.
  2. To charge formally with a wrongdoing.
v.   intr.
To make a charge of wrongdoing against another.

[Middle English acusen, from Latin accūsāre : ad-, ad- + causa, lawsuit.]
ac·cus'er n., ac·cus'ing·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Accuse

Ac*cuse"\, n. Accusation. [Obs.] --Shak.

Accuse

Ac*cuse"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Accused; p. pr. & vb. n. Accusing.] [OF. acuser, F. accuser, L. accusare, to call to account, accuse; ad + causa cause, lawsuit. Cf. Cause.]

1. To charge with, or declare to have committed, a crime or offense; (Law) to charge with an offense, judicially or by a public process; -- with of; as, to accuse one of a high crime or misdemeanor.

Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. --Acts xxiv. 13.

We are accused of having persuaded Austria and Sardinia to lay down their arms. --Macaulay.

2. To charge with a fault; to blame; to censure.

Their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. --Rom. ii. 15.

3. To betray; to show. [L.] --Sir P. Sidney.

Syn: To charge; blame; censure; reproach; criminate; indict; impeach; arraign.

Usage: 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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : accuse
Spanish: acusar,
German: beschuldigen,
Japanese: 非難する
More Translations »

accuse 
1297, from O.Fr. acuser, from L. accusare "to call to account," from ad- "against" + causari "give as a cause or motive," from causa "reason." Accusatory is first attested 1601, from L. accusatorius.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: ac·cuse
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: ac·cused; ac·cus·ing
Etymology: Latin accusare to find fault with, charge with a crime, from ad to, at + causa legal case, trial
transitive verb : to charge with an offense judicially or by a public process —compare INDICT intransitive verb : to make or bring an accusation —ac·cus·er noun
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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