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Origin and history of repulse

repulse(v.)

early 15c., repulsen, "hold (something) back; drive (someone) away," from Latin repulsus, past participle of repellere "drive back, reject" (see repel). Also compare Medieval Latin repulsare. Related: Repulsed; repulsing.

repulse(n.)

late 15c., "defeat," in part from the English verb, in part from Old French repulse, variant of repousse, and in part directly from Latin repulsa "refusal, denial" (as in repulsa petitio "a repulse in soliciting for an office"), noun use of fem. of repulsus, past participle of repellere "to drive back" (see repel).

also from late 15c.

Entries linking to repulse

repel(v.)

early 15c., "to drive away, remove, quench" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French repeller and directly from Latin repellere "to drive back," from re- "back" (see re-) + pellere "to drive, strike" (from PIE root *pel- (5) "to thrust, strike, drive").

The sense of "encounter (an invader, etc.) with effectual resistance, resist, oppose" is from mid-15c. The meaning "to affect (a person) with distaste or aversion" is by 1817. Related: Repelled; repelling.

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    snub
    mid-14c., "to check, reprove, rebuke," from Old Norse snubba, Old Danish snebbe, "to curse, chide, snub, scold, reprove." The etymological sense is perhaps "to cut off," and the word probably is related to snip. Compare Swedish snobba "lop off, snuff (a candle)," Old Norse snubbo
    drive
    Old English drifan "to compel or urge to move, impel in some direction or manner; to hunt (deer), pursue; to rush against" (class I strong verb; past tense draf, past participle drifen), from Proto-Germanic *dreibanan (source also of Old Frisian driva "I lead, impel, drive (away)
    pudendum
    of," neuter gerundive of pudere "make ashamed; be ashamed," sometimes said to be from a PIE root *(s)peud- "to punish, repulse...
    rally
    1650s, in military language, "a rapid regrouping for renewed action after a repulse," from rally (v.1)....
    rebut
    Also in Middle English "assail (someone) with violent language, rebuke" (c. 1300); "repel in battle, repulse" (mid-14c.)....
    rebound
    rebounden, "to spring, leap," also "to spring back from a force or an impact," from Old French rebondir "leap back, resound; repulse...
    osmosis
    ," from PIE *wedhe- "to push, strike" (source also of Sanskrit vadhati "pushes, strikes, destroys," Avestan vadaya- "to repulse...
    fight
    Old English feohtan "to combat, contend with weapons, strive; attack; gain by fighting, win" (intransitive; class III strong verb; past tense feaht, past participle fohten), from Proto-Germanic *fe(u)hta (source also of Old High German fehtan, German fechten, Middle Dutch and Dut
    attract
    early 15c., attracten, "draw (objects or persons) to oneself," also a medical term for the body's tendency to absorb fluids, nourishment, etc., or for a poultice treatment to "draw out" diseased matter; from Latin attractus, past participle of attrahere "to draw, pull; to attract
    oppose
    late 14c., opposen, "to speak or act against; accuse, question, interrogate," from Old French oposer "oppose, resist, rival; contradict, state opposing point of view" (12c.), apparently from assimilated form of Latin ob- "in the direction of, in front of" (see ob-) + French poser

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