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Webster 1913 Edition

Accuse

Ac-cuse′

,
Noun.
Accusation.
[Obs.]
Shak.

Ac-cuse′

,
Verb.
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.
[R.]
Sir P. Sidney.
Syn. – To charge; blame; censure; reproach; criminate; indict; impeach; arraign.
– 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 1828 Edition

Accuse

ACCU'SE

,
Verb.
T.
[L. accuso, to blame or accuse; ad and causor, to blame, or accuse; causa, blame, suit, or process, cause. See Cause.]
1.
To charge with, or declare to have committed a crime, either by plaint, or complaint, information, indictment, or impeachment; to charge with an offense against the laws, judicially or by a public process; as, to accuse one of a high crime or misdemeanor.
2.
To charge with a fault; to blame.
Their thoughts, in the meanwhile, accusing or excusing one another. Rom. 2.
It is followed by of before the subject of accusation; the use of for after this verb is illegitimate.

Definition 2024

accuse

accuse

See also: accusé

English

Verb

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.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Epistle to the Romans 2:15,
      Their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.
    • (Can we date this quote?) 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.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Acts of the Apostles 24:13,
      Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me.
    For the U.S. President to be impeached, he must be accused of a high crime or misdemeanor.‎
  3. (intransitive) To make an accusation against someone.
    • 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:
      According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.

Usage notes

  • (legal): When used this way accused is followed by the word of.
  • Synonym 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

Translations

Noun

accuse ‎(plural accuses)

  1. (obsolete) An accusation.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

French

Verb

accuse

  1. first-person singular present indicative of accuser
  2. third-person singular present indicative of accuser
  3. first-person singular present subjunctive of accuser
  4. third-person singular present subjunctive of accuser
  5. second-person singular imperative of accuser

Italian

Noun

accuse f

  1. plural of accusa

Portuguese

Verb

accuse

  1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of accusar
  2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of accusar
  3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of accusar
  4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of accusar

Etymology

First attested around 1300. From Middle English acusen, from Old French acuser, from Latin accūsō ‎(“to call to account, accuse”), from ad ‎(“to”) + causa ‎(“cause, lawsuit, reason”). Akin to cause.

Pronunciation

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