Referee

How to spell referee

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce referee

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does referee mean?

1. nounAn official who oversees a game or match and enforces the rules.
2. verbTo act as the official who supervises and enforces the rules of a contest.
3. nounA person who provides a written or spoken recommendation about an applicant's character or ability.

Referee in a sentence

• noun

  The referee blew the whistle and awarded a penalty.

• verb

  A retired player agreed to referee the local junior matches.

• noun

  The application form asked for the name of a professional referee.

• noun

  A furious crowd booed the referee after the controversial decision.

• verb

  Only certified officials may referee a national tournament.

• noun

  Her former manager agreed to act as a referee for the new post.

Where does referee come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built from the verb 'refer', which English took from the Latin referre, a compound of re- meaning 'back' and ferre meaning 'to carry or bring'; the literal sense was therefore 'to carry back'. To this English added the suffix -ee, borrowed from French legal language, which marks the person to whom something is directed, as in 'payee' or 'employee'. So a referee was originally, in the 1600s, the person to whom a dispute was carried back or 'referred' for a decision. From that legal and arbitrating role the word spread in the 1800s to the official who judges and enforces the rules of a sporting contest, and in academic and employment contexts to a person who can be referred to for a personal recommendation. The double 'e' at the end is the giveaway of that -ee suffix, while the single 'r' after the first 'e' trips up writers who expect a doubling.

How the word is built

• refer- (from Latin referre: to carry back, to refer)
• -ee (one to whom an action is directed)