caus-

One wrong does not justify another wrong.

No one is bound, or required, to accuse himself.

A legal term.

I do not refuse work.

Motto of Dover College, U.K.

To refuse, to object to, to protest against.

The process by which a judicial judge is disqualified on the objection of either party (or disqualifies himself or herself) from hearing a lawsuit because of self interest, bias, or prejudice (or even perceived bias or prejudice).

Anyone who refuses to submit or to conform to an established authority or a regulation.

Pertaining to the refusal to conform to an authority; obstinate in refusal to follow the instructions set out in a regulation or regulations: The mother sent her recusant son to his room for not following her demand that he clean the mud off his shoes before going into other rooms after coming into the entrance way. © ALL rights are reserved.

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1. Refusal, protest against, object to.
2. In civil law, a species of exception or plea to the jurisdiction, to the effect that the particular judge is disqualified from hearing the cause by reason of a special interest, incompetence, or prejudice.
3. The challenge of jurors.
4. An act, of what nature soever it may be, by which a strange heir, by deeds or words, declares he will not be an heir.

1. To refuse or to reject: "The member of the jury recused herself because she was a family member of the person on trial."
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.

1. An action or a trick which is used to fool someone or other people about what is really going on: Mary asked her boyfriend to go to the grocery store as a ruse because she wanted to have all their friends over for his birthday without him knowing about it!
2. Etymology or origin: from Middle English ruser, "to drive back" possibly from Latin recusare "to reject"; from re-, "back" + causari, "to give as a reason." © ALL rights are reserved.

Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.