▪ I. refund, n.
(rɪˈfʌnd, ˈriːfʌnd)
[f. next.]
Repayment.
| 1866 Morn. Star 6 Mar. 6/3 He instituted this suit to obtain a refund of the sum. 1884 Harper's Mag. June 42/1 That claims for drawback or refund be paid upon due proof only. |
▪ II. refund, v.1
(rɪˈfʌnd)
[ad. OF. refunder (refonder) or L. refundĕre, f. re- re- + fundĕre to pour: see found v.3]
1. a. trans. To pour back, pour in or out again (lit. and fig.). Now rare or Obs.
| 1386 Almanak for Year 8 Þe vertu or þe influens þat it hace or receyves of þe hyer planetys..it refundes and puttys til þe erthe by his bemys. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione ii. x. 53 Þe giftes of god mowe not flowe in us, for..we refunde not ayen all to þe originall welle. 1653 H. More Antid. Ath. ii. xii. Schol. §1 (1712) 160 It is at last refunded into the Body by the left Ventricle of the Heart. 1674 Govt. Tongue v. 56 One may as easily perswade the thirsty earth to refund the water she has suckt into her veins. 1725 Pope Odyssey xii. 132 Thrice in dire thunders she refunds the tide. 1765 Antiq. in Ann. Reg. 181/1 The waves play, absorbed in each other and again refunded. [1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. i, Two lawyers, whose wetted garments..would refund a considerable part of the water they had collected.] |
b. To give back, restore. Also absol.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 179 The membres inferialle supporte and do seruyce, the..membres mediate receyve, and refunde. 1694 Crowne Regulus iv. 43 This body..Asks the refunding all our victories. 1699 Woodward in Phil. Trans. XXI. 217 These..being Vegetable Substances, when refunded back again into the Earth, serve for the formation of other like Bodies. 1856 Dove Logic Chr. Faith v. i. §2. 215 An animal nature which..is compelled to refund its constituent matter to the planet..on which it grew. |
c. Philos. To put back into something antecedent. rare.
| 1696 J. Serjeant Meth. Science 222 They cannot..without making use of Principles, refund Effects into their Proper Causes. 1697 ― Solid Philos. 452 So that all the Certainty of Authority is to be refunded into Intrinsecal Arguments. [1836–7 Sir W. Hamilton Metaph. iv. (1877) I. 77 The intellectual necessity of refunding effects into their causes.] 1920 A. S. Pringle-Pattison Idea of God i. 9 If any one prefers to use the term universe for the sum of created or dependent beings, he may, of course, refund the universe into God as its creative source. |
2. To make return or restitution of (a sum received or taken); to hand back, repay, restore.
| 1553 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 146 To refund, content, and pay to ane honorable man..the sowme of v⊇ lib. 1661 Pepys Diary 20 Oct., I am to refund to..Lord Peterborough what he had given us six months ago. 1674 tr. Scheffer's Lapland xxv. 116 The maid's Father is sentenced to refund either the entire sum, or half of it, as the case stands. 1723 Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 10 Whatever charges you are at in copying I shall willingly refund. 1727 Pope, etc. Art of Sinking 95 If you would describe a rich man refunding his treasures, express it thus. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 799 Some private purse Supplies his need with a usurious loan, To be refunded duly. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India I. 441 They..refunded to the peasantry of the country the money which had been extorted from them. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 134 A thief, whether he steals much or little, must refund twice the amount. |
3. To reimburse, repay (a person).
| 1736 Swift Let. to Bp. Hort 12 May, The printer has a demand..to be fully refunded, both for his disgraces, his losses, and the apparent danger of his life. 1862 J. M. Ludlow Hist. U.S. 204 A proposal to refund him out of the Treasury was now made in Congress. 1895 Daily News 30 Oct. 6/7 If you are out of pocket by this business, [I] shall be glad to contribute towards refunding you. |
4. absol. To make repayment.
| 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. viii. iii. §43 As none were Losers employed in that service,.. so we finde few refunding back to charitable uses. 1706 S. Centlivre Basset-Table v, I believe you are the first Gamester that ever refunded. 1755 Smollett Quix. (1803) IV. 60 He not only refuses to refund, but also denies that I ever lent him the ten crowns. 1841 Macaulay Ess., Hastings (1850) 606 The majority..voted..that Hastings had corruptly received between thirty and forty thousand pounds; and that he ought to be compelled to refund. |
Hence reˈfunded ppl. a.; reˈfunding vbl. n.1 Also reˈfunder1, one who refunds.
| 1691 T. Brown Reas. New Converts taking Oaths 3 A City Usurer turn'd into a Refunder of his ill-gotten Estate. 1825 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Barbara S―, Ravenscroft..in silence took back the refunded treasure. 1843–56 Bouvier Law Dict. (ed. 6) s.v. Refund, On a deficiency of assets, executors..are entitled to have refunded to them legacies which they may have paid..; they are generally authorized to require a refunding bond. |
▪ III. reˈfund, v.2
(riː-)
[re- 5 a.]
trans. To fund again or anew. Hence reˈfunding vbl. n.2; also reˈfunder2.
| 1860 in Worcester. 1896 Columbus (Ohio) Disp. 22 Apr. 4/2 When the bonds are sold and the floating indebtedness is refunded..let us join in well-wishing to the refunders. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 23 Apr. 8/1 The disbursements of the Treasury in connexion with the re-funding of bonds. |