Accuse
Pronunciation
- RP enPR: É™kyoÍžozʹ, IPA: /əˈkjuËz/
- US IPA: /ə.ˈkjuz/
- Rhymes: -uËz
Origin
First attested around 1300. From Middle English acusen, from Old French acuser, from Latin accūsŠ("to call to account, accuse"), from ad ("to") + causa ("cause, lawsuit, reason"). Akin to cause.
Full definition of accuse
Verb
- (transitive) To find fault with, to blame, to censure.
- unknown date Epistle to the Romans 2:15,Their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.
- unknown date Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay,We are accused of having persuaded Austria and Sardinia to lay down their arms.
- (transitive) To charge with having committed a crime or offence.
- unknown date 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.
- (intransitive) To make an accusation against someone.
- 2013-06-08, Obama goes troll-hunting, According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures 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.