referral
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re·fer
(rĭ-fûr′)v. re·ferred, re·fer·ring, re·fers
v.tr.
1. To direct to a source for help or information: referred her to a heart specialist; referred me to his last employer for a recommendation.
2. To submit (a matter in dispute) to an authority for arbitration, decision, or examination.
3. To direct the attention of: I refer you to the training manual.
4.
a. To assign or attribute to; regard as originated by.
b. To assign to or regard as belonging within a particular kind or class: referred the newly discovered partita to the 1600s. See Synonyms at attribute.
v.intr.
1.
a. To relate or pertain; concern: questions referring to yesterday's lecture.
b. To serve as a descriptor or have as a denotation: The word chair refers to a piece of furniture.
2. To speak or write about something briefly or incidentally; make reference: referred during our conversation to several books he was reading.
3. To turn one's attention, as in seeking information: refer to a dictionary.
[Middle English referren, from Old French referer, from Latin referre : re-, re- + ferre, to carry; see bher- in Indo-European roots.]
ref′er·a·ble (rĕf′ər-ə-bəl, rĭ-fûr′-) adj.
re·fer′ral n.
re·fer′rer n.
Usage Note: Some people consider the phrase refer back to be redundant, since refer contains the prefix re-, which was brought into English from Latin and originally meant "back." But such an argument is based on what linguists call the "etymological fallacy"—the assumption that the meaning of a word should always reflect the meanings of the words, roots, and affixes from which it was derived. In fact, most words change their meanings over time, often to the point where their historical roots are completely obscured. Such change is natural and usually goes unnoticed except by scholars. We conduct inaugurations without consulting soothsayers (augurs), and we don't necessarily share bread (pānis in Latin) with our companions. In fact, refer is quite often used in contexts that don't involve the meaning "back" at all, as in The doctor referred her patient to a specialist or Please refer to this menu of our daily specials. As for refer back, the Usage Panel's position has shifted dramatically over the years. In 1995, 65 percent of the Panel disapproved of this construction, but by 2011, 81 percent accepted it in the sentence To answer your question it is necessary to refer back to the minutes of the previous meeting. In such cases, where the "back" meaning of re- has largely disappeared, adding back can provide useful semantic information, indicating that the person or thing being referred to has been mentioned or consulted before. The Panel remains somewhat less tolerant of constructions like revert back, in which the verb retains the sense "back" as part of its meaning: in 2011, 67 percent accepted revert back in the sentence After his divorce he seemed to revert back to his adolescence. In this context, back may simply be used to provide emphasis, perhaps suggesting a greater step backward than the verb by itself would. In any case, the prevalence of phrases that combine back and words prefixed with re- indicates that such constructions are a robust feature of English, even if they do appear to be logically redundant.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
re•fer•ral
(rɪˈfɜr əl)n.
1. an act or instance of referring.
2. the state of being referred.
3. a person referred or recommended to someone or for something.
[1930–35]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
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| Noun | 1. | referral - a person whose case has been referred to a specialist or professional group; "the patient is a referral from Dr. Bones" case - a person requiring professional services; "a typical case was the suburban housewife described by a marriage counselor" |
| 2. | referral - a recommendation to consult the (professional) person or group to whom one has been referred; "the insurance company says that you need a written referral from your physician before seeing a specialist" recommendation - something (as a course of action) that is recommended as advisable | |
| 3. | referral - the act of referring (as forwarding an applicant for employment or referring a matter to an appropriate agency) forwarding - the act of sending on to another destination; "the forwarding of mail to a new address is done automatically"; "the forwarding of resumes to the personnel department" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
referral
[rɪˈfɜːrəl] N1. (Med, Psych) ask your GP for a referral to a clinical psychologist → pídale a su médico que le envíe a un psicólogo clínico
letter of referral → volante m médico
letter of referral → volante m médico
2. (to higher authority) → remisión f
3. (Jur) [of case] → remisión f
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
referral
[rɪˈfɜːrəl] n [patient] (to hospital)
She got a referral to a specialist → Elle a été adressée à un spécialiste.
She got a referral to a specialist → Elle a été adressée à un spécialiste.
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
referral
n (Med: to hospital, specialist etc) → Überweisung f → (to zu); (Jur: of case) → Verweisung f (→ to an +acc); referral letter, letter of referral (Med) → Überweisung f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
referral
[rɪˈfɜːrəl] n → deferimento; (Med) she got a referral to a specialist → l'hanno mandata da uno specialistaCollins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
re·fer·ral
n. recomendación; remisión;
___ and consultation → ___ y consulta.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
referral
n remisión f, derivación f (esp. Esp)English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.