recuse

See also: récusé, récuse, and recusé

English

WOTD – 2 March 2023

Etymology

From Late Middle English recusen,^[1] from Old French recuser (modern French récuser (“to challenge; to impugn; (formal) to make an objection; (law) to recuse”), and from its etymon Latin recūsāre, the present active infinitive of recūsō (“to decline, refuse, reject; (law) to object to, protest”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’, denoting opposition or reversal) + causa (“cause, reason; (law) case, claim; etc.”) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs).^[2] Doublet of rouse and possibly ruse.

cognates

• Catalan recusar
• French récuser
• Italian ricusare
• Old Occitan recuzar
• Portuguese recusar
• Spanish recusar

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈkjuːz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɹiˈkjuz/, /ɹə-/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːz
• Hyphenation: re‧cuse

Verb

recuse (third-person singular simple present recuses, present participle recusing, simple past and past participle recused)

1. (transitive, often reflexive)
   1. To reject or repudiate (an authority, a person, a court judgment, etc.).
      • [c. 1421, J. B., “XI. A Petition by J. B. (a Suspected Lollard) to King Henry V.”, in Cecil Munro, editor, Letters of Queen Margaret of Anjou and Bishop Beckington and Others. Written in the Reigns of Henry V. and Henry VI. […], London: […] [John Bowyer Nichols and Sons] for the Camden Society, published 1863, →OCLC, page 28:

        And therfore, if ayenst this peticion any processe be made of any maner Juge spirituel or temporell, and soo the same John have wronge, thanne he provoketh and appelleth this cause directly to the rightwisness of god and to the liege lorde, ffor other juges in his matere he hath utterly suspecte, for greet wronges that he hath had, dreding to have more. He therfor hem utterly recuseth, and herto he fully him submitteth.]

      • 1509–1547 (date written), John Strype, “[Appendix: […].] Numb[er] XXVI. Dr. Fox to Dr. Gardiner; Giving Him a Relation of His Reception at Court, upon His Return from His Embassy.”, in Ecclesiastical Memorials; Relating Chiefly to Religion, and the Reformation of It: Shewing the Various Emergencies of the Church of England, under King Henry the Eighth. […], volume I, London: […] John Wyat, […], published 1721, →OCLC, page 83:

        [T]he Quenys grace may alvvayes recuſe & appell at her good pleaſure & libertie, from vvhatſoever Decree or Sentence, either interlocutorie, or definitive, ſhe vvil: […]

      1. (reflexive, law) Of a judge, juror, or prosecutor: to declare (oneself) unable to participate in a court case due to an actual or potential conflict of interest or lack of impartiality.

         The judge recused herself from that case, citing a possible conflict of interest as one of the parties was a personal friend.

         • 2024 May 17, John Fritze, “New York Times: Upside-down US flag flew at home of Justice Samuel Alito after 2020 election”, in CNN‎:

           The revelation is almost certain to prompt calls for [Samuel] Alito, a member of the court’s conservative wing, to recuse himself from several high-profile cases pending before the court this year involving the election and subsequent attack on the US Capitol, including the blockbuster question of whether Trump may claim immunity from federal election subversion charges.

      2. (chiefly Canada, US, law) To object to (a judge, juror, or prosecutor) participating in a court case due to an actual or potential conflict of interest or lack of impartiality.

         Synonym: (Philippines) inhibit

         • 1771, [John Shebbeare], An Authentic Narrative of the Oppressions of the Islanders of Jersey. […], volume II, London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC, pages 238–239:

           The ſaid [Nicholas] Fiott, likevviſe, recuſeth James Pipon, eſq; [as being a judge in the cause] ſeeing, that he knovvs that the ſaid Fiott is the perſon vvho is the cauſe that the ſaid Pipon hath been ſued by rigour of lavv, before the council, in order to oblige him to do juſtice to the poor concerning the hoſpital.

   2. (obsolete)
      1. To refuse (to do something).
      2. (rare) To dismiss (an appeal).
         • 1529 July 3 (Gregorian calendar), Henry VIII, “[A Collection of Records and Original Papers; with Other Instruments Referred to in the Former History.] XXVIII. The King's Letter to His Ambassadours, about His Appearance before the Legates. An Original. June 23. 1529 [Julian calendar].”, in Gilbert Burnet, The History of the Reformation of the Church of England. The First Part, […], London: […] T[homas] H[odgkin] for Richard Chiswell, […], published 1679, →OCLC, page 78:

           [N]otvvithſtanding that the ſaid Judges amply and ſufficiently declared, as vvell the ſincerity of their minds directly, juſtly to proceed vvithout favour, dread, affection, or partiality; […] yet ſhe nevertheleſs perſiſting in her former vvilfulneſs, and in her Appeal, vvhich alſo by the ſaid Judges vvas likevviſe recuſed: […]

2. (intransitive, law) Of a judge, juror, or prosecutor: to declare oneself disqualified from trying a court case due to an actual or potential conflict of interest or lack of impartiality.

   The district attorney recused from the case because he used to work for the company which was the defendant.

Conjugation

infinitive	(to) recuse
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	recuse	recused
2nd-person singular	recuse, recusest†	recused, recusedst†
3rd-person singular	recuses, recuseth†	recused
plural	recuse
subjunctive	recuse	recused
imperative	recuse	—
participles	recusing	recused

Conjugation of recuse

^†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

• recusal
• recusancy (partly)
• unrecuse

Related terms

• accuse
• cause
• excuse
• recusance
• recusancy (partly)
• recusant
• recusation
• recusative (obsolete, rare)
• recusator (obsolete)
• recusatory (obsolete, rare)

 

Translations

to reject or repudiate (an authority, a person, a court judgment, etc.)

Catalan: recusar (ca) Dutch: wraken (nl) Finnish: jäävätä (fi) French: récuser (fr) German: wegen Befangenheit ablehnen Greek: εξαιρώ (el) (exairó) Macedonian: се по́влече (se póvleče) Russian: отводи́ть (ru) (otvodítʹ) Spanish: recusar (es)

(transitive, reflexive) of a judge, juror, or prosecutor: to declare (oneself) unable to participate in a court case due to an actual or potential conflict of interest or lack of impartality

Dutch: recuseren Finnish: jäävätä itsensä, jääviytyä French: récuser (fr) German: sich für befangen erklären Greek: αυτοεξαιρούμαι (aftoexairoúmai) Persian: رفع صلاحیت کردن (raf'-e salâhiyat kardan) Russian: отводиться (ru) (otvoditʹsja), отка́зываться (ru) (otkázyvatʹsja) от (ru) (ot) участия (ru) (učastija) Swedish: jäva ut sig

to object to (a judge, juror, or prosecutor) participating in a court case due to an actual or potential conflict of interest or lack of impartiality

Finnish: vastustaa jääviyden nojalla Macedonian: please add this translation if you can

(intransitive) of a judge, juror, or prosecutor: to declare oneself disqualified from trying a court case due to an actual or potential conflict of interest or lack of impartiality

Finnish: jääviytyä Macedonian: please add this translation if you can

References

1. “recūsen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
2. “recuse, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “recuse, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

• judicial disqualification on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• recusancy on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Creuse, Rescue, cereus, ceruse, cursee, rescue, secuer, secure

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: re‧cu‧se

Verb

recuse

1. inflection of recusar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reˈkuse/ [reˈku.se]
• Rhymes: -use
• Syllabification: re‧cu‧se

Verb

recuse

1. inflection of recusar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative