Meanings
nounreferral (countable and uncountable, plural referrals)
plural referrals
- countableuncountableThe act or process of transferring someone or something to another, of sending by reference, or referring.
The insurance company insists I get a referral from my regular doctor. I can't just go to the specialist; a GP has got to refer me.
- countableslanguncountableA document used by schools detailing some form of a student's misbehavior and listing the actions taken before and after the student's receipt of the referral.
After misbehaving in class, George was given a referral for disrupting class and sent to the office.
Origin
- Englishrefer
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
- Englishreferral
Translations
Arabic إِحَالَة
- إِحَالَة (ʔiḥāla)act or process of transferring
Bulgarian отпращане, отнасяне към
- отпращане (otpraštane)act or process of transferring
- отнасяне към (otnasjane kăm)act or process of transferring
Chinese Mandarin 转介, 转诊
- 转介 (zhuǎnjiè)act or process of transferring
- 转诊 (zhuǎnzhěn)act or process of transferring
Danish henvisning
- henvisningact or process of transferring
Dutch verwijzing
- verwijzingact or process of transferring
Finnish lähete
- läheteact or process of transferring
German Überweisung
- Überweisungact or process of transferring
Hungarian beutaló
- beutalóact or process of transferring
Polish skierowanie
- skierowanieact or process of transferring
Portuguese encaminhamento
- encaminhamentoact or process of transferring
Russian направле́ние, реферал
- направле́ние (napravlénije)act or process of transferring
- реферал (referal)act or process of transferring
Spanish remisión, derivación
- remisiónact or process of transferring
- derivaciónact or process of transferring
- referimientoact or process of transferring
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with referral
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
referral. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/referral
MLA
“referral.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/referral. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “referral,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/referral.
Source: referral on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.