“refers” is a form of
refer
UK /ɹɪˈfɜː/ · US /ɹɪˈfɝ/ verb, noun
Forms refers referring referred
- verb (transitive) To direct the attention of (someone toward something). “The shop assistant referred me to the help desk on ground floor.”
- verb (transitive) To submit to (another person or group) for consideration; to send or direct elsewhere. “He referred the matter to the principal.”
- verb (transitive) 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. “He referred the phenomena to electrical disturbances.”
- verb (intransitive) To mention (something); to direct attention (to something). “To explain the problem, the teacher referred to an example in another textbook.”
- verb (intransitive, stative) To make reference to; to be about; to relate to; to regard; to allude to. “The recipe referred to several unusual ingredients.”
- verb (grammar) To be referential to another element in a sentence.
- verb (intransitive, programming) To point to either a specific location in computer memory or to a specific object. [with to] “In C, the pointer obtained by &a refers to the variable a.”
- verb (transitive, education) To require to resit an examination. “Smith's marks in the finals were unsatisfactory and he was referred.”
- noun (journalism) A blurb on the front page of a newspaper issue or section that refers the reader to the full story inside the issue or section by listing its slug or headline and its page number.
Synonyms
send delegate direct mention advert bring up cite name pertain relate concern come to bear on touch touch on have-to doe with consult look up denote
Etymology
From Middle English referren, from Old French referer, from Latin referre. The noun (used in journalism) is from the verb. Doublet of relate. See also infer, collate and confer, delate and defer, as well as prelate and prefer among others.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To carry or send back. [Obs.] Chaucer.
- verb Hence: To send or direct away; to send or direct elsewhere, as for treatment, aid, infirmation, 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.
- verb To have recourse; to apply; to appeal; to betake one's self; as, to refer to a dictionary.
- verb To have relation or reference; to relate; to point; as, the figure refers to a footnote.
Etymology [F. référer, L. referre; pref. re- re- + ferre to bear. See Bear to carry.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “refer”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details