2. To disqualify oneself from acting in a particular situation: The mayor sought to recuse herself from the committee because of a personal conflict of interest.
To recuse refers to the process by which a judge is disqualified as a result of an objection by either party (or disqualifies himself or herself) from hearing a lawsuit because of self-interest, bias, or prejudice.
The old recluse who lived in the barn tried to recuse the plan by the city council to tear down the barn and to build a retreat for holiday goers.
2. To disqualify or try to disqualify someone from taking part in a decision because of a possible prejudice or personal involvement: "The professor was definitely recusing himself from taking part in the legal action against a company because he was once an employee there."
3. Etymology: "derived from the Middle French word recuser, which came from Latin recusare, "to refuse".
"English speakers started using recuse with the meaning "to refuse" or "to reject" in the 14th century. By the 15th century, the term meant "to challenge" or "to object to (a judge)". The current legal use of recuse as a term specifically meaning "to disqualify (oneself) as a judge" didn't come into general use until the mid-20th century.
Now, the more inclusive applications come from the sense of recusing oneself from such things as debates and decisions; as well as, legal cases in courts of law.