Etymograph

English

recusation

Recusation comes from Latin recusatio ‘refusal, declining’, from causa ‘cause, reason’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Italic *kaussā.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaussā1uncertain
  2. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEcaussa1uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcausa1‘cause, reason’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecuso2‘to refuse, decline, reject’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecusatio3as recusatio‘refusal, declining’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1750recusation3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin recuso
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin recusatio
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English recusation
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1750, William Blackstone: “[…]permit a man to refuse a judge, if he…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaussāWiktionary, Latin recusouncertain
  2. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEcaussaWiktionary, Latin recusouncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcausaWiktionary, Latin recuso‘cause, reason’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecusoWiktionary, Latin recusatio‘to refuse, decline, reject’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecusatioWiktionary, English recusationas recusatio‘refusal, declining’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1750recusationWiktionary, English recusation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1750, William Blackstone: “[…]permit a man to refuse a judge, if he…”

Linked words

through Old Latin caussa

accuser, 20 more

through Latin causa ‘cause, reason’

because, cause, chose, chest, accuse, syllabus, causal, accusation, inexcusable, causative, excusable, accusative, 21 more

Today it means

noun The act of disqualifying a judge or jury in a specific case on the grounds of possible partiality or prejudice.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “recusation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin recuso, Latin recusatio. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *kaussā / recusation

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