Translation
to bring back, carry back; to report, relate
Examples
Nuntius .
The messenger reports the king's words.
rettulit .
He gave ground and fled.
.
They ought to report all this to the senate.
Romam .
The envoy brought news of the victory back to Rome.
beneficio .
They repay the kindness with a service in return.
Refero, referre, rettuli, relatum. A compound of the wildly irregular fero, and it inherits the whole mess: the perfect rettuli, often written retuli, and the supine relatum, with no f anywhere in sight. Learn the four parts as a block or you will not recognise them in the wild.
Two idioms do most of the work. Pedem referre, to bring the foot back, is to retreat, and gratiam referre is to repay a favour with deeds, as against gratias agere, to thank in words. Separately, the impersonal refert, "it matters", is a different verb built from res plus fero, and it takes a genitive of value: magni refert, it matters a great deal. Gives refer, relate, relation and reference.
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refero: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Latin word "refero" (to bring back, carry back; to report, relate): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 11.