accuse

Definition of accuse

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

• IPA: /əˈkjuːz/, SAMPA: /@"kju:z/
• Audio (US) ^[?]
• Rhymes: -uːz

Verb

to accuse (third-person singular simple present accuses, present participle accusing, simple past and past participle accused)

1. (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.
2. (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

• (legal): charge; indict; impeach; arraign
• blame; censure; reproach; criminate;

Related terms

• accusable
• accusation
• accusative
• accusatory
• accuser

Noun

accuse (plural accuses)

1. (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
• accuse at OneLook Dictionary Search

Translation of accuse in Malay

[1] Tuduh [2] Dakwa

1. tuduh
2. dakwa