Rifiutate

Rifiutate is the feminine plural past participle of the Italian verb rifiutare, meaning to refuse or reject. In Italian, past participles can function as adjectives or as parts of compound tenses, and rifiutate agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies when used attributively.

As an adjective, rifiutate describes something that has been refused or rejected by someone. For example, Le proposte rifiutate indicate proposals that have been rejected. In compound tenses, rifiutate appears with auxiliary essere or avere, depending on the construction: Le proposte sono state rifiutate (the proposals have been refused) uses the auxiliary essere and the participle agrees with the subject.

Usage notes and nuances: rifiutate is common in formal, administrative, and legal language to denote rejection by an authority, committee, or group. When the participle is used with avere as the auxiliary, agreement with the preceding direct object is possible, although in everyday speech it is often left implicit: Le proposte rifiutate dai revisori are still understood as "the proposals rejected by the reviewers." The masculine singular form is rifiutato, and related forms include rifiutare (to refuse) and rifiuto (refusal).

Etymology: rifiutate derives from the verb rifiutare, which comes from Latin refutare, via the evolution of the Italian verb system.

See also: rifiutare, rifiuto, rifiutato.